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UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


STUDIES  IN  THE  TRADE  RELATIONS 

OF  THE  BRITISH  WEST  INDIES 

AND  NORTH  AMERICA, 

1763-1773;  1783-1793 


BY 

HERBERT  C.  BELL 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  IN 

PARTLA.L  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR, 

THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


HHILAUIiLPHIA 

1917 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


STUDIES  IN  THE  TRADE  RELATIONS 

OF  THE  BRITISH  WEST  INDIES 

AND  NORTH  AMERICA, 

1763-1773;  1783-1793 


BY 

HERBERT  C.  BELL 


A  THESIS 

PRESEXTED    TO    THE    FACULTY    OF    THE    GRADUATE    SCHOOL    IN 

PARTIAL    FULFILLMENT    OF    THE    REQUIREMENTS    FOR 

THE     DEGREE     OF     DOCTOR     OF     PHILOSOPHY 


HHILADELPHIA 
1917 


•     ■•      * 


■  •       «    ■ 


[Beprinted  from  The  English  Uistohjc al- llEsnFW,  J nhj  1916.] 


British  Commercial  Policy   in  tJie    West 

Indies,  ijSs-gj 

IN  March  1775  Burke,  speaking  on  conciliation  with  America, 
pointed  out  that  the  three  branches  of  trade  carried  on  by 
Great  Britain  with  the  continental  colonies,  with  the  West  Indies, 
and  with  Africa  respectively  were  '  so  interwoven  that  the 
attempt  to  separate  them  would  tear  to  pieces  the  contexture 
of  the  whole  and,  if  not  entirely  destroy,  would  much  depreciate 
the  value  of  all  the  parts  '.  Eight  years  later  thirteen  of  the 
continental  colonies  were  placed,  by  the  acknowledgement  of 
American  independence,  outside  the  compact  commercial  system 
enclosed  and  guarded  by  the  navigation  acts.  Now,  it  has  of 
late  been  fully  understood  that  the  principles  of  British  com- 
mercial pohcy  were  not  altered  by  the  events  of  the  American 
Revolution.  How  then  did  the  British  government  contrive  to 
preserve  its  old  monopohst  system,  and  yet  to  avoid  the  injuries 
to  the  West  Indian  trade  which  Burke  had  anticipated  ? 

In  order  to  understand  the  points  at  issue,  we  must  bear  in 
mind  certain  of  the  conditions  under  which  intercolonial  trade 
in  America  was  carried  on  previously  to  the  revolutionary  war. 
In  particular  we  must  remember  that  the  thirteen  colonies  and 
the  West  Indies  were  not  alone  interested  in  the  trade.  Canada, 
Nova  Scotia,  and  Newfoundland  gladly  exchanged  fish  and  their 
scanty  surplus  stock  of  lumber  and  flour  for  the  produce  of  the 
islands,  although  their  geographical  position  placed  them  at 
a  serious  disadvantage  as  compared  with  their  sister  colonies  to 
the  South  .^  British  shipowners  engrossed  what  they  could  of 
the  carrying  trade  between  the  continent  and  the  West  Indies, 
but  found  themselves  heavily  handicapped  by  the  advantages 
which  the  Americans  enjoyed  through  their  proximity  to  the 
islands,  the  low  cost  of  their  ships,  and  the  ability  of  these  tiny 

'  It  is  dilKcult  to  estimate  the  volume  of  tliis  trade,  since  most  of  it  was  conducted 
indirectly  through  the  New  England  merchants.  See  the  evidence  of  Inspector- 
General  Irving  before  the  Committee  of  Trade,  30  March  1784  :  Public  Record  Ofiicc, 
Board  of  Trade,  Minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Trade,  3,  fo.  124.  In  1772  out  of  1208 
vessels  arriving  in  the  West  Indies  from  North  America  only  13  were  from  these 
colonies  :    ibid.  fo.  11.       O  (»  A  ()  r '  (^ 


430  BRITISH  COMMERCIAL  POLICY  IN  July 

vessels  t'o  enter  any  and  all  ports. ^  British  and  Irish  fishermen 
coni])eted  in  the  sugar  islands  against  New  England  rivals  ;  ^ 
while  Irish  farmers,  although  denied  the  privilege  of  direct  trade 
with  the  colonies  until  1778,  easily  outdistanced  the  farmers  of 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Pennsylvania  in  supplying  beef 
and  pork  to  West  Indian  markets.*  In  the  British  Islands,  then, 
were  many  persons  who  would  gain  from  the  interruption  of  the 
chief  branch  of  intercolonial  trade.  But  the  West  Indians  were 
well  supphed  with  friends  in  England  who  were  prepared  to 
support  their  interests.  Great  Britain  had  sixty  milhon  pounds 
invested  in  the  islands  ;  ^  three-quarters  of  a  milhon  of  its 
revenue  was  derived  from  West  Indian  produce  ;  ^  British  goods 
representing  a  much  larger  sum  and  slaves  to  the  value  of  another 
half -million  were  disposed  of  by  West  Indian  merchants  ;  '    and, 

*  Colonial-built  vessels  were  generally  inferior  to  British-buUt,  but  were  much 
cheaper :  see  the  evidence  of  James  Anderson,  agent  at  Boston  for  a  Glasgow  firm, 
before  the  Committee  of  Trade  (Board  of  Trade,  Min.  of  Comm.  of  Trade,  7,  fo.  480). 
They  constituted  three-quarters  of  all  the  vessels  engaged  in  trade  between  the  Nortli 
American  continent  and  the  islands  :  Brit.  Mus.,  Add.  MS.  12404.  The  British 
merchants  who  entered  the  trade  sent  out  large  ships  which  usually  followed  a  '  three- 
cornered  '  route  from  Great  Britain  to  North  America,  thence  to  the  sugar  islands, 
and  thence  again  to  Great  Britain.  But  these  vessels  could  make  only  one  voyage 
a  year,  could  trade  only  at  large  American  ports  where  their  cargoes  were  collected, 
were  relatively  expensive  to  work,  and  were  apt  to  be  too  late  in  reaching  the  islands  : 
Correspondence  of  John  Reynell  among  the  uncatalogued  family  papers  of  Joseph 
H.  Coatcs,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.  The  American  merchants  carried  on 
the  bulk  of  their  trade  in  little  coasting  vessels  of  40  to  50  tons,  which  skirted  the 
shores  of  the  continent  and  cruised  at  will  through  the  islands,  loading  and  discharging 
cargo  wherever  advantage  offered,  and  making  two  or  three  trips  a  year:  Pemberton 
and  Chfford  papers  in  the  library  of  the  Pennsjdvania  Historical  Society,  Philadelphia. 
Statistics  will  be  found  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Trade,  March  to  May  1784, 
Board  of  Trade,  Min.  of  Comm.  of  Trade,  3. 

'  Add.  MS.  12404,  fo.  54. 

*  Evidence  presented  by  Irving  before  the  Committee  of  Trade,  30  March  1784  : 
Board  of  Trade,  ]\Iin.  of  Comm.  of  Trade,  3,  fo.  124.  Irish  moat,  though  somewhat 
more  expensive,  was  superior  in  quality  and  could  be  kept  longer.  Direct  trade  was 
legalized  by  18  Geo.  Ill,  c.  55,  ahd  20  Geo.  Ill,  c.  10.  A  certain  amount  appears, 
however,  to  have  been  carried  on  previously  to  the  passage  of  these  acts :  Massachusetts 
nit>torical  Society  Collections,  Seventh  Series,  ix.  299,  304,  306,  307. 

'  Add.  MS.  12413,  fo.  20.  State  of  the  West  Indies  laid  before  parliament,  March 
1775.  In  the  petition  of  the  West  India  planters  of  February  1775  the  amount  is 
given  as  thirty  millions  (Parliamentary  History,  xviii.  219),  but  it  may  easily  be 
demonstrated  that  the  larger  sum  is  approximately  accurate.  See  Journals  of  the 
Assembly  of  Jamaica,  viii.  525. 

'  Speech  of  Glover  in  the  house  of  commons,  March  1775  :  Pari.  Hist,  xviii.  461. 
This  estimate  is  apparently  moderate.  The  duty  on  16,000,000  cwt.  of  sugar  (Public 
Record  Office,  Treasury  Revenue  Accounts,  Misc.  Engl.,  65)  at  65.  S-^^d.  a  hundredweight 
would  amount  to  more  than  £500,000.  The  duties  and  excise  on  2,250,000  gallons 
of  rum  (Treasury  Revenue  Accounts,  Misc.  Engl.  65)  at  55.  Oi{;fi.  a  gallon  would 
amount  to  £560,000.  Again,  customs  duties  alone  on  all  West  India  goods  imported 
into  Great  Britain  amounted  to  about  £700,000. 

'  Great  Britain  exported  to  the  West  Indies  goods  to  the  value  of  about  £1,200,000. 
Of  these  about  one-quarter  were  '  foreign'  goods:  Trcas.  Rev.  Ace.,  Misc.  Engl.,  81; 
Add.  MS.  12413,  fo.  26;  and  Publ.  Rec.  Off..  Treas..  38.  69. 


IDKi  THE   WEST  INDIES,  17S:U}:i  431 

linall^^  West  Indian  proprietors  were  scattered  through  most  of 
the  counties  of  England.® 

But,  before  reviewing  the  deUberations  on  the  subject,  we  must 
inquire  whether  any  changes  in  the  situation  were  [)roduccd  by  the 
war.  As  an  immediate  result  of  the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  trade 
relations  between  the  British  West  Indies  and  the  colonies  in 
revolt  became  doubly  prohibited — on  the  American  side  through 
the  agreements  against  importation  and  exportation,  and  on  the 
British  by  the  prohibitory  acts.  The  W^est  Indians,  dravdng 
little  comfort  from  the  regrets  expressed  in  their  behalf  by 
Congress  ^  and  by  Lord  North, ^°  protested  that  existence  under 
such  conditions  was  impossible.^^  In  view  of  later  events  it  is 
interesting  to  note  how  they  actually  fared.  From  the  outset 
extraordinary  expedients  were  adopted  for  the  securing  of 
supphes.  Prizes  were  offered  in  the  islands  for  the  raising 
of  additional  amounts  of  food-stuffs  and  for  the  taking  of 
turtle  and  fish,^-  and  the  planters  were  thus  persuaded  to  with- 
draw a  portion  of  their  land  and  negroes  from  the  ordinary  pro- 
cesses of  cultivation.  At  the  same  time  the  shipments  of  food 
from  Ireland  were  largely  increased,^^  the  freer  exportation  of 
grain  from  Great  Britain  to  the  W^est  Indies  w^as  sanctioned  by 
statute, ^^  lumber  was  brought  from  the  Baltic,^^  and  both- lumber 
and  provisions  were  secured  to  the  largest  possible  extent  from 
Canada,  Florida,  neighbouring  islands  belonging  to  neutral 
powers,  and  such  parts  of  the  thirteen  colonies  as  were  under 
British  control. -^^    It  must  also  be  noted  that  the  cargoes  of  the 

*  Lord  Shelburne  declared  in  November  1778  that  'there  was  scarcely  ten  miles 
together  tliroughout  the  country  where  the  house  and  estate  of  a  rich  West  Indian 
were  not  to  be  seen ' :  Pari.  Hist.  xix.  1315.  Persons  resident  in  England  possessed 
property  to  the  value  of  £14,000,000  in  the  islands:  Add.  MS.  12413,  fo.  20. 

^  Congress,  highly  pleased  at  the  intervention  of  Jamaica  in  behalf  of  the  northern 
colonies,  addressed  to  the  assembly  of  that  island  on  25  July  1775  a  letter  of  apology  : 
'  We  knew  that  we  must  sacrifice  our  own  [interest]  and  (which  gave  us  equal  uneasiness) 
that  of  our  friends  who  had  never  offended  us,  and  who  were  connected  with  us  by 
a  sympathy  of  feelings  under  oppressions  similar  to  our  own ' :  Ford,  Journals  of  Congress, 
i.  79,  80,  194,  204.  >«  Pari  Hist,  xviii.  105(5. 

"  e.g.  the  address  of  the  assembly  of  Barbadoes,  Publ.  Rec.  Off.,  Colonial  Office, 
28.  56.  See  also  the  resolutions  passed  on  7  February  1775  by  the  society  of  West 
Indian  merchants  and  planters  in  London.  The  minutes  of  the  meetings  held  by  the 
.•society  and  its  committee,  1769-83,  are  preserved  at  the  offices  of  the  present  West 
India  Committee  in  Seething  Lane,  London. 

"  A  paper  on  the  West  India  Trade,  Publ.  Rcc.  Off.,  Colonial  Offico,  325.  6  ;  Laws 
of  Jamaica,  10  Geo.  Ill,  c.  12,  and  16  Geo.  Ill,  c.  16  ;  Journals  of  the  Assembly  of 
Jamaica,  vi.  570,  579,  589. 

"  Correspondence  relating  to  the  trade  of  the  United  States  with  the  British 
colonies,  Colonial  Office,  325.  6  ;  Naval  Office  lists  for  Jamaica,  1781,  Board  of  Trade, 
0.  176. 

'^  13  Geo.  Ill,  c.  43,  and  14  Geo.  Ill,  c.  5. 

^■'  Paper  on  the  West  India  trade.  Colonial  OfKcc,  325.  6  ;  Minutes  of  the  West 
India  Merchants  for  11  May  1776. 

"  Naval  Office  hsts  for  Jamaica,  1781,  Board  of  Trade,  6.  176  ;  a<lv(rtiscracnt  in 


432  BRITISH  COMMERCIAL  POLICY  IN  July 

many  American  vessels  taken  by  British  men-of-war  or  privateers 
during  the  earlier  years  of  the  struggle  were  purchased  for  con- 
sumption in  the  islands/^  and  that  some  of  the  West  Indians 
unquestionably  found  means  to  defy  the  prohibitory  acts  and 
carry  on  trade  with  their  rebel  friends. ^^  The  exact  measure  of 
success  which  attended  these  efforts  is  not  easily  estimated  on 
account  of  the  various  misfortunes  which  fell  upon  the 
islands  at  this  time.  Several  suffered  capture,  followed  by  the 
temporary  ruin  or  emigration  of  many  of  the  substantial  planting 
class  ;  and  all  were  more  or  less  devastated  by  a  series  of  violent 
hurricanes  which  occurred,  most  unfortunately,  during  the  later 
years  of  the  war.  In  order  to  form  a  proper  estimate  it  will  be 
well  to  confine  our  attention  to  Jamaica,  which  escaped  capture, 
and  was,  from  its  relatively  great  size,  best  able  to  sustain  the 
effects  of  the  storms.  There,  we  find,  supphes  were  irregular  and 
often  insufficient,^^  and  the  productive  power  of  the  island  was 
substantially  reduced."^''  Hence  the  planters  were  in  1783  jjar- 
ticularly  sensitive  to  the  evils  which  might  ensue  should  their 
old  trade  with  the  continental  colonies  be  restricted  or  cut  off. 
Yet  the  war  had  in  other  respects  greatly  strengthened  the 
arguments  which  might  be  advanced  for  restricting,  if  not  pro- 
hibiting, trade  between  the  islands  and  the  United  States.  The 
loyalty  of  the  remaining  continental  colonies  was  felt  to  have 
merited  some  reward,  and  the  migration  to  them  of  the  American 
loyahsts  increased  both  their  claims  to  consideration  and  their 
abihty  to  engage  in  the  West  Indian  trade.  Again,  the  ship- 
owners could  argue  that  rebels  and  aliens  should  not  be  allowed 
to  engross  an  important  branch  of  the  British  shipping  industry, 
especially  at  a  time  when  hundi'eds  of  vessels  and  thousands  of 
seamen  were  rendered  idle  by  the  return  of  peace.^ 

Jamaica  Mercury  for  6  October  1779  ;  Correspondence  of  Governor  Dalling  of  Jamaica 
with  governors  and  commanders  in  North  America,  Colonial  Office,  5.  80. 

"  Publ.  Rec.  Off.,  Admiralty,  1.  240  ;  Minutes  of  the  West  India  Merchants  for 
5  December  1777,  Board  of  Trade,  Min.  of  Comm.  of  Trade,  fo.  330. 

"  Publ.  Rec.  Off.,  Admiralty,  1.  241.  Lists  and  descriptions  of  the  vessels  seized 
by  Admiral  Parker's  squadron.  The  trade  carried  on  through  St.  Eustatius  is  well 
known. 

*'  Treas.,  64.  72.  Lists  of  imports  in  British  bottoms  at  Kingston,  Jamaica,  during 
the  war.  The  years  of  greatest  scarcity  were  1776-8.  But  the  ruinous  prices  of  food 
and  lumber  would  indicate  that  the  island  was  insufficiently  supplied  at  other  times. 
See  Journals  of  the  Assembly  oj  Jamaica,  vii.  313,  314,  467,  577,  for  prices  in  1780,  1782, 
and  1783  ;  also  the  Annual  Register  for  1778,  p.  304. 

=">  Treas.,  38.  269.  Imports  into  England  from  the  West  Indies,  1774-83.  The 
importation  of  sugar  dechned  gradually  from  1775  to  1781  by  50  per  cent.  Camden, 
speaking  on  30  May  1777  on  Chatham's  motion  for  putting  an  end  to  hostihties  in 
America,  declared  that  two  hundred  families  living  in  England  on  the  revenues  from 
their  West  Indian  estates  had  already  been  obhged  by  losses  to  return  to  the  islands  : 
Pari.  Hist.  xix.  339. 

*'  The  number  of  seamen  without  employment  after  1783  was  estimated  at  the 
remarkable  figure  of  60,000 :    Evidence  of  Irving,  the  former  Inspector-General  of 


1916  THE   WEST  INDIES,  1783-03  433 

When  therefore  in  1782  the  British  government  faced  the 
problem  of  setthng  the  future  commercial  relations  of  the  various 
parts  of  the  Empire  with  the  United  States,  it  was  confronted 
with  decided  cUfierences  of  opinion  in  pohtical  and  commercial 
circles  as  to  the  regulation  of  the  West  Indian  trade.  While  these 
differences  originated  chiefly  from  the  conflict  of  interests  just 
noted,  they  were  strongly  accentuated  for  several  months  by  the 
intense  personal  feehng  to  which  the  war  had  given  rise.  Thus 
the  planters,  in  asking  for  absolute  freedom  of  intercourse, 
gained  support  from  many  of  those  who  sympathized  most 
warmly  with  the  American  cause  ;  while  the  shipowners,  in 
demanding  the  exclusion  of  the  Americans  from  the  carrying 
trade,  and  the  advocates  of  the  loj^al  colonies,  in  urging  that 
American  produce  should  be  barred  from  entering  the  islands, 
had  on  their  side  men  who  would  not  unwillingly  have  hindered 
the  commercial  development  of  the  United  States.  There  was 
even  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  method  of  procedure  which 
the  government  should  pursue.  The  majority  of  those  interested 
advocated  the  conclusion  of  a  commercial  treaty  in  connexion 
with  the  treaty  of  peace,  but  others  advised  that  the  government 
should  prescribe  regulations  by  statute,  and  leave  the  Americans 
free  to  follow  a  similar  course.  Both  methods  were,  in  fact,  tried  by 
the  three  ministries  which  successively  took  the  matter  in  charge. 

The  attempts  of  the  first  of  these,  the  Shelburne  administra- 
tion, to  arrive  at  a  settlement  need  not  detain  us  long.  In  the 
matter  of  negotiation  nothing  was  done  beyond  the  rejection  of 
Frankhn's  proposal,  made  in  July  1782,  that  each  nation  should, 
in  matters  of  commerce,  treat  the  subjects  of  the  other  exactly  as 
it  did  its  own.^^  Nor  was  the  ministry  able  to  accomplish  more 
through  parliament.  It  wiU  be  remembered  that  Lord  Shelburne, 
whose  position  had  been  far  from  strong  at  the  opening  of  the 
session  on  5  Pecemljer  1782,  was  forced  to  resign  on  24  February 
following,  and  that  the  unwillingness  of  George  III  to  accept 
the  coalition  of  Fox  and  Lord  North  occasioned  a  sort  of  inter- 
regnum in  the  government  which  lasted  until  2  April.  The  time 
was  evidently  unsuitable  for  passing  important  legislation,  but 

Imports  and  Exports  in  America  before  the  Committee  of  Trade,  1  April  1784,  Board 
of  Trade,  Min.  of  Comm.  of  Trade,  3,  fo.  156. 

"  Publ.  Rec.  Off.,  Foreign  Office,  Misc.  563.  Franklin's  proposal  as  originally 
stated  bore  no  direct  reference  to  the  British  colonies :  Oswald  to  Shelburne,  10  July 
1782.  But  in  the  provisional  treaty  of  peace  agreed  to  by  Oswald  two  months  later 
Article  IV  stated  that  in  all  parts  of  the  world  the  ships  and  merchants  of  the  two 
nations  should,  in  the  ports  belonging  to  both,  '  enjoy  the  same  protection  and  com- 
mercial privileges  and  be  liable  only  to  the  same  charges  and  duties '.  A  draft  of  these 
articles  was  enclosed  by  Oswald  to  Townshend  in  a  dispatch  of  7  October  1782.  They 
were  rejected  by  the  cabinet,  and  Strachey  was  sent  to  Paris  to  obtain  their  revision. 
Among  other  concessions  he  secured  the  elimination  of  any  mention  of  commerce  in 
the  treaty.     See  Smyth,  Franklin,  viii.  628. 

VOL.  XXXI. — NO.  CXXIII.  Ff 


434  BRITISH  COMMERCIAL  POLICY  IN  July 

the  ministry  was  subjected  to  constant  attack  for  its  delay  in 
providing  for  the  resumption  of  trade  with  the  United  States,-^ 
and  before  the  coalition  ministry  was  formed,  Pitt,  as  chancellor 
of  the  exchequer,  attempted  to  deal  with  the  matter  through 
a  bill  introduced  just  after  Shelburne's  fall.  This  bill  granted 
practically  all  that  Frankhn  had  asked  in  the  preceding  autumn 
without  stipulating  for  any  return  :  ^^  its  effect  would  have  been 
to  give  the  Americans  not  only  the  privilege  of  unrestricted  trade 
in  their  produce  and  manufactures  with  the  West  Indies,  but 
also  that  of  sharing  the  carrying  trade  between  the  mother 
country  and  the  islands.  But  for  so  hasty  and  complete  a  depar- 
ture from  the  old  commercial  system  the  country  was  not  prepared. 
The  bill  was  violently  attacked  by  societies  of  merchants  and 
chambers  of  commerce  from  the  larger  trading  centres  ^°as  well  as 
in  parUament.  In  the  commons  Burke,  Fox,  Lord  Sheffield,  and 
Sir  Grey  Cooper  joined  in  opposing  it  ;  but  the  leading  part  was 
played  by  that  urbane  and  astute  politician,  William  Eden,  who,  as 
a  former  lord  of  the  committee  for  trade,^^  spoke  with  authority 
on  commercial  matters,  and  who,  moreover,  was  at  this  time 
strengthening  his  long-standing  connexion  with  North  "^  by 
working  assiduously  for  the  estabUshment  of  the  coalition 
government.-^  Brushing  aside  ahke  the  generous  principles  o| 
Pitt's  bill  and  Burke's  pleas  for  '  measures  of  unsohcited  liberality ', 
he  declared  that  the  amount  of  the  concessions  to  be  allowed  to 
the  Americans  should  be  determined  on  the  basis  of  strict  bar- 
gaining. In  order  that  the  ministers  might  have  time  and 
authority  to  conclude  the  most  favourable  arrangement,  he 
suggested  that  they  should  be  given  power  to  regulate  the 
American  trade  for  a  limited  period  by  orders  in  council  .^^    This 

"  For  attacks  in  the  press  see  for  instance  the  Morning  Chronicle  for  10  February 
1783.  Demands  for  action  were  also  being  heard  in  the  house  of  commons,  as  in  Burke's 
speech  of  28  January  reported  in  the  Morning  Herald  and  Daily  Advertiser  for 
29  January  1783. 

^*  The  text  is  given  in  Edwards,  History  of  the  West  Indies  (London,  1801),  ii.  491. 
The  bill  was  introduced  on  3  March. 

^'  The  West  Indian  merchants  and  planters  in  London  took  the  lead  in  protesting 
against  the  bill  and  secured  the  co-operation  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  at  Glasgow  : 
Minutes  of  the  West  India  Merchants  for  6  and  21  March  1783. 

**  Knox  Papers,  Hist.  3ISS.  Comm.,  Reports  on  Various  Collections,  vi.  265.  Knox 
in  1779  wrote  a  highly  interesting  sketch  of  Eden's  life  and  character.  While  malicious 
and  not  entirely  trustworthy,  it  throws  much  Kght  on  Eden's  political  career.  L^nless 
Knox  was  a  consummate  hypocrite,  a  reconcihation  between  the  two  men  must  have 
taken  place  before  1781. 

^'  Eden  was  one  of  the  commissioners  sent  to  America  in  1778.  His  connexion  with 
North  began  several  years  before  this  (Hist.  MSS.  Comm.,  Stopford-Sackville  MSS.,  ii. 
10),  and  was  considered  extremely  close  at  this  time  (Hist.  MSS.  Comm.,  10th  Sep., 
Append.,  pt.  vi,  54,  Jenkinson  to  Robinson,  16  September  1782). 

^*  Eden's  two  patrons,  Loughborough  (Wedderburn)  and  Carhsle,  it  may  be  noted, 
became  members  of  the  coalition  cabinet. 

-■•'  Eden  made  this  proposal  as  early  as  7  March  :  London  Chronicle,  8  March  1783. 


101 G  THE  WEST  INDIES,  1783-93  435 

scheme,  designed  for  the  benefit  of  the  incoming  administration, 
found  considerable  support,  and  Pitt,  failing  to  get  even  the 
principle  of  his  measure  approA^ed,  finally  proposed  that  considera- 
tion of  the  whole  matter  should  be  deferred  until  the  first  week  in 
April. ^"  Before  the  discussion  was  resumed  the  government  was 
in  the  hands  of  Fox  and  North. 

Fox,  as  secretary  for  the  foreign  department,  first  took  the 
matter  in  charge.  Convinced  that  it  was  too  imj^oi-tant  for  hasty 
settlement  by  means  of  legislation,^^  he  adopted  Eden's  plan  of 
procedure  by  dropping  Pitt's  bill,'^-  and  passed  an  enabling  act  to 
give  authority  to  the  Crown  to  regulate  all  trade  with  America 
by  order  in  council  for  six  months .""^^  Meanwhile  he  reopened 
negotiations  with  the  American  commissioners  at  Paris.  But  if 
his  method  was  the  method  of  Eden,  his  views,  as  defined  in  his 
instructions  to  Hartley,  his  envoy  at  Paris,  were  not  far  removed 
from  those  of  Pitt.  He'  was  quite  willing  that  the  Americans 
should  trade  freely  in  their  own  ships  with  the  West  Indies, 
provided  that  they  carried  raw  produce  only.^^  That  they  should 
trade  between  the  islands  and  the  mother  comitry  the  govern- 
ment, he  said,  could  not  permit  until  a  full  investigation  had  been 
held,  since  English  '  prejudices  '  on  the  matter  were  so  strong.^^ 
Hartley  received  dispatches  to  this  effect  under  the  date  of 
10  June.  He  heard  nothing  further  until  he  was  informed,  not 
from  home,  but  by  the  American  commissioners,  of  the  issue  on 
2  July  of  an  order  in  council  for  the  regulation  of  the  West 
Indian  trade.^*^  Since  this  order  embodied  the  poUcy  actually 
maintained  during  the  ten  years  following,  and  since  its  provisions 
seem  to  incUcate  that  the  government's  views  had  suddenly  anrl 
entirely  changed  on  one  of  the  two  essential  points  at  issue,  it 
deserves  to  be  examined  with  some  care.  Its  terms  are  well 
known.  The  West  Indians  were  allowed  to  import  American 
lumber,  flour,  bread,  grain,  vegetables,  and   live   stock,  and  to 

3"  The  debates  continued  from  5  March  to  2  April.  Pitt  in  his  defence  showed 
none  of  his  usual  self-confidence,  admitting  at  the  outset  that  ho  was  '  by  no  means 
tenacious  of  any  part  of  the  bill ',  and  laying  himself  open  to  charges  by  Sheffield  of 
weakness  and  vacillation.  Reports  of  his  principal  speeches  are  found  in  the  Morning 
Chronicle  for  6  and  8  March  and  3  April  1783. 

^'  Memorials  and  Correspondence  of  C.  J.  Fox  (London,  1853),  ii.  122.  On  8  April 
Fox  wrote  to  the  king  that,  since  any  action  on  Pitt's  bill  would  make  necessary  an 
immediate  decision  on  the  matter,  he  had  resolved  to  postpone  such  action  until 
further  progress  had  been  made  in  the  negotiations  with  the  American  commissioners. 

^2  On  9  April  Fox  carried  without  division  a  motion  fm-ther  to  postpone  the 
consideration  of  Pitt's  bill. 

"  23  Geo.  Ill,  c.  39. 

"  Fox  to  Hartley,  10  April  1783  :  Publ.  Pvcc.  Off.,  Foreign  Office,  America,  ser.  I  B. 

35  Fox  to  Hartley,  10  June  1783:  ibid.  At  this  time  the  one  question  at  issue  was 
the  participation  of  American  vessels  in  the  carrying  trade  between  the  islands  and 
Great  Britain. 

3«  Privy  Council  Register,  Geo.  Ill,  xxi,  fo.  316. 


436  BRITISH  COMMERCIAL  POLICY  IN  July 

export  to  the  United  States  rum,  sugar,  molasses,  coffee,  nuts, 
ginger,  and  pimento.  But  the  importation  of  American  meat, 
dairy  produce,  and  fish  was  forbidden,  and  the  trade  was  confined 
entirely  to  British  ships. 

That  this  apparent  alteration  in  the  views  of  the  ministry 
represents  no  change  of  opinion  on  the  part  of  Fox  is  evident 
from  his  dispatches  to  Hartley  of  a  later  date,^''  but  it  is  certain  that 
the  cabinet  was  divided  and  that  the  order  represents  a  victory 
for  the  more  conservative  section  which  attached  itseK  to  North.^^ 
Not  only  is  this  supposition  on  the  face  of  it  reasonable,  but  there 
is  evidence  that  the  order  was  drafted,  on  the  instructions  of 
North  himself,  by  William  KJnox,  who  had  been  for  twelve  years 
under-secretary  for  the  colonies  in  the  North  administration.^® 
Knox,  in  fact,  claims  the  credit  of  having  suggested  it  and 
secured  its  adoption  by  the  privy  council  in  face  of  the  opposition 
of  Fox  and  Burke  ;  ^°  and,  while  his  statements  are  unsupported 
save  by  general  expressions  of  congratulation  on  the  part  of  his 
friends,"*^  there  is  no  reason  for  considering  them  untrue.  Finally, 
we  know  that  Eden  was  an  active  member  of  the  committee  of 
the  privy  council,  in  the  hands  of  which  affairs  of  trade  had 
temporarily  been  placed,*^  that  he  warmly  approved  of  the  order, 
and  that  he  was  in  close  touch  with  Knox.*^  Other  influences 
were  also  at  work.  The  anxiety  of  the  ministry  as  to  the 
attitude  of  the  Americans  had  iust  been  reUeved  bv  the  news 
that  their  ports  were  open  to  British  vessels  ^^  and  by  the  arrival 

^'  '  I  still  adhere  in  every  particular  to  the  system  upon  which  my  first  instructions 
to  you  were  planned':  Fox  to  Hartley,  29  July  1783,  Foreign  Office,  America, 
ser.  1  B. 

*'  Adams  received  from  England  exaggerated  reports  to  this  effect.  '  My  advices 
from  England  are  that  Lord  Sheffield  with  his  friends  .  . .  are  making  a  party  imfriendly 
to  us  ;  that  the  ministry  adopt  their  sentiments  and  measures  ;  that  Fox  has  lost  his 
popularity  and  devoted  himself  to  North,  who  has  the  King's  ear  and  disposes  of 
places  .  .  .'  :  Adams  to  Livingston,  the  Hague,  2  August  1783,  Works,  viii.  130. 

'^  Letter  of  Colonel  Augustus  North  to  Knox,  dated  by  Knox,  May  1783  :  Knox 
Papers,  Hist.  3ISS.  Comm.,  Var.  Coll.  vi.  191.  Colonel  North,  on  Lord  North's  behalf, 
requests  Knox  to  prepare  the  draft  of  an  act  '  "for  regulating  the  commerce  between 
our  remaining  British  colonies,  our  West  India  Islands,  and  the  United  States,  as  well 
as  any  other  acts  it  may  be  necessary  to  pass  this  Session  "  with  regard  to  the  inter- 
course between  England  and  America '.  Subjoined  is  a  memorandum  by  Knox 
stating  that,  on  account  of  the  enabUng  act,  legislation  was  unnecessary,  and  that 
he  had  therefore  drafted  orders  in  council  instead  :  ihid.  Sheffield,  writing  to  Knox, 
3  July  1783,  expressed  pleasure  that  the  order  had  been  passed  exactly  as  Knox 
drew  it.  ■»»  Knox  to  Lord  Walsingham,  20  August  1787  :    ibid.  198. 

"  Sheffield  to  Knox,  3  July  1783;  Viscount  Sackville  to  Knox,  4  July  1783  and 
20  August  1783  :  ihid.  191,  192.  Sackville  expressed  satisfaction  that  North  had 
adopted  Knox's  plan,  and  declared  that  the  cabinet  would  not  have  known  how  to 
IJroceed  without  him. 

*'  Report  of  a  meeting  of  the  Committee  on  Plantations,  15  May  1783  :  Privy 
Council,  Unbound  Papers. 

"  Eden  to  Knox,  11  February  1782  :    Knox  Papers,  uhi  supra,  p.  240. 

**  Hartley  to  Fox,  2U  June  1783  :    Foreign  Office,  America,  ser.  1  B. 


191G  THE  WEST  INDIES,  1783-93  437 

of  American  ships  in  the  United  Kingdom.  Lord  Sheffield  had 
just  pubUshed  his  cleverly  conceived  and  ably  written  Observations 
on  the  Commerce  of  the  American  States,  for  the  express  purpose 
of  combating  the  principles  underlying  Pitt's  bill.  The  popu- 
larity of  the  book  was  so  great,  and  its  effect  so  marked,^^  that 
it  called  forth  from  the  American  commissioners  bitter  com- 
plaints,*^ and  from  Edward  Gibbon  a  warm  eulogy  of  its  author 
as  '  the  defender  if  not  the  saviour  of  the  navigation  acts  '.*' 
Whether  or  not  John  Adams  was  right  in  behoving  that  the 
decision  of  the  ministry  was  also  swayed  by  the  influence  of 
jealous  European  powers  is  not  clear. *^ 

The  July  order  in  council,  as  I  have  said,  embodies  the  pohcy 
pursued  during  the  ten  years  following.  Yet  it  was  not  regarded 
at  the  time  as  more  than  a  temporary  expedient,*^  and  the  most 
important  part  of  its  history  consists  in  the  fact  that  it  was 
maintained  and  in  the  end  permanently  adopted.  Measures  were 
soon  set  on  foot  for  inducing  the  government  to  grant  more 
hberal  terms.  From  America  came  threats  of  retahation,^" 
threats  which  were  to  some  extent  put  into  force  by  Maryland  ^^ 
and  Virginia  ^^  before  the  close  of  the  year.  From  the  West 
Indies,  where  prices  had  risen  from  50  to  100  per  cent,  on  the 
pubhcation  of  the  order,^^  and  where  there  was  a  serious  appre- 

*^  Sheffield  was  congratulated  on  every  side  and  was  given  the  freedom  of  the 
city  of  Glasgow  :  Auckland  Corr.  i.  56  ;  European  Magazine  for  September,  November, 
and  December  1783  ;  Scot's  Magazine  for  December  1783  ;  Knox  Papers,  Hist.  MSS. 
Comm.,  Var.  Coll.  vi.  191  ;  Hist.  MSS.  Comm.,  MSS.  in  Royal  Institution,  iv.  207. 

"  Hartley  to  Fox,  17  and  24  July  1783  :   Foreign  Office,  America,  ser.  1  b. 

*'  '  The  navigation  act,  the  palladium  of  Great  Britain,  was  defended  and  perhaps 
saved  by  his  pen  '  :   Memoirs  (London,  1827),  ii.  242. 

"  Adams,  Works  (Boston,  1853),  viii.  74,  85,  90,  98.  Adams  feared  that  England, 
France,  and  the  other  powers  possessing  colonies  in  the  West  Indies  would  agree  to 
exclude  American  vessels  from  any  participation  in  the  carrying  trade  of  the  islands. 
'  The  French  .  .  .  will  say  everything  they  can  think  of  to  persuade  the  Enghsh  to 
deprive  us  of  the  trade  of  their  West  India  Islands.  They  have  already,  with  their 
emissaries,  been  the  chief  cause  of  the  change  of  sentiments  in  London,  on  this  head, 
against  us.'  But  evidence  is  wanting  to  justify  this  conclusion.  Certainly  none  exists 
in  the  Despatches  from  Paris,  1784-90,  published  by  the  Camden  Society,  3rd  series, 
xvi,  xvii. 

"  Fox  to  Hartley,  29  July  1783  :  Foreign  Office,  America,  ser.  1  b  ;  Morning 
Chronicle,  19  March  1784,  reporting  a  speech  of  Eden  in  the  house  of  commons, 
18  March. 

"  Cf.  Pennsylvania  Packet,  4  August  and  12  December  1783. 

"  Lnu's  of  Maryland  (Annapolis,  1787),  session  of  3  November  to  26  December  1783, 
c.  29.  This  act  imposed  a  charge  of  55.  per  ton  on  British  vessels  entering  and  clearing 
and  an  additional  duty  of  2  per  cent,  ad  valorem  on  British  goods  imported  in  British 
ships. 

"  Henning,  Statutes  of  Virginia,  xi.  313,  8th  of  the  Commonwealth,  c.  5.  This  act 
conferred  upon  Congress  power  to  forbid  the  importation  of  British  West  Indian 
produce  in  British  bottoms. 

"  Answer  to  the  Heads  of  Inquiry  contained  in  the  letter  of  the  Secretary  of 
State,  11  November  1784  :  Colonial  Office,  137.  84.  The  answer  is  dated  1  February 
1785. 


438  BRITISH  COMMERCIAL  POLICY  IN  July 

hension  of  famine,  came  a  series  of  protests  and  appeals.^^  Even 
in  England  a  vigorous  press  campaign  was  set  up.  The  coalition 
stuck  to  its  guns  and  through  a  new  enabling  act  extended  the 
operation  of  the  order  in  council  until  April  1784.  But  the 
opposition  was  as  keen  as  ever  when  in  December  1783  Pitt,  the 
former  advocate  of  the  freest  of  intercourse,  assumed  charge  of 
the  government. 

From  the  outset  Pitt  showed  that  he  was  prepared  to  afford 
the  opponents  of  the  existing  restrictions  every  consideration. 
Negotiations  were  entered  upon  with  the  merchants  with  a  view 
to  a  compromise,  and  it  was  suggested  that  West  Indian  ports 
should  be  opened  to  American  vessels  of  less  than  eighty  tons,^^ 
vessels,  in  other  words,  which  could  not  easily  cross  the  ocean 
nor  serve  as  a  nursery  for  the  American  fleet. °^  When  the  mer- 
chants, probably  through  over-confidence,  refused  to  accept  any 
hmitation  of  tonnage,  the  matter  was  referred  to  the  newly 
constituted  committee  of  trade  for  investigation  and  report." 
The  voluminous  minutes  of  this  investigation  well  reward  detailed 
examination,^^  but  we  maj'  here  confine  ourselves  to  the  methods 
which  the  commissioners  pursued,  the  principles  upon  which 
they  acted,  and  the  results  at  which  they  arrived.  Their  method 
deserves  high  praise.  Working  patiently  for  almost  three  months,^^ 
they  sought,  obtained,  and  sifted  evidence  from  every  promising 
source  in  a  manner  which  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  their  thorough- 
ness and  their  honest  desire  to  discover  the  truth. 

The  conclusion  at  which  they  arrived  ®°  was  that  the  loyal 
colonies  were  already  able  to  suppl}'  a  large  pro^^iortion  of  the  lumber 
and  provisions  which  the  West  Indies  required  and  would  in  about 
three  years  be  ready  to  furnish  the  whole.  If  they  failed  to  consume 
all  the  rum  for  which  the  planters  had  to  find  an  American  market, 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  to  whom  it  was  indispensable, 
would  be  glad  to  purchase  the  rest.  For  the  carrying  trade 
British  shipping,  operating  on  the  old  three-cornered  principle, 

"  Resolutions  of  the  Committee  of  West  India  Merchants,  26  November  1783  : 
Colonial  Office,  137.  82  ;   Journals  of  the  House  of  Comtnons,  xxxix.  840. 

*^  Library  of  Congress,  Franklin  MSS.,  1287.  Benjamin  Vaughan,  writing  to 
Henry  Laurens,  27  February  1784,  gives  from  memory  an  account  of  these  negotiations. 
See  also  the  minutes  of  the  meeting  of  West  Indian  planters  and  merchants  at  which 
the  proposals  were  discussed.  Colonial  Office,  137.  83. 

^*  The  explanation  is  furnished  in  correspondence  relative  to  the  intercourse  of 
the  United  States  with  the  British  colonies  :    Colonial  Office,  325-6. 

"  Board  of  Trade,  Rlin.  of  Comm.  of  Trade,  3,  fo.  1.  The  committee  was  estab- 
lished on  5  March  1784,  and  on  the  same  day  a  petition  of  the  West  Indian  merchants 
and  planters,  which  constituted  the  basis  of  the  inquiry,  was  referred  to  it. 

^*  The  mass  of  evidence  presented  before  the  committee  is  invaluable  for  the  light 
it  throws  on  the  West  Indian  trade  before  and  during  the  war  of  the  American 
Kevolution. 

"  10  March  to  31  May. 

''■'  Board  of  Trade,  Min.  of  Comm.  of  Trade,  3,  fo.  276  £E. 


191()  THE  WEST  INDIES,  1783-93  439 

would  undoubtedly  suffice.     Retaliatory  measures  on  the  ])art 
of  the  Americans  were  not  to  be  feared,  and  could  in  any  event 
be  defeated  by  the  ease  with  which  goods  might  be  smuggled 
into  their  country  and  by  the  opening  of  free  ports  which  their 
merchants  would  be  sure  to  frequent.     Hence  the  islands  could 
be  cultivated  at  a  '  sufficient  '   profit  without  the  freedon^  of 
intercourse  for  which  the  planters  asked,  although  such  profit 
might  be  less  than  that  obtained  before  the  war.     On  the  basis 
of  these  conclusions,  all  of  which  were  more  or  less  contradicted 
by  the  allegations  of  the  West  Indians,  the  committee  proceeded 
to  recommend  the  adoption,  for  the  time  being,  of  a  set  of  regula- 
tions corresponding  in  all  essentials  with  those  already  in  force. 
It  is  interesting,  too,  to  note  that  the  recommendations  were 
based  not  only  on  facts,  but  on  certain  clearly  stated  principles. 
The  privilege  of  supplying  the  islands  as  far  as  lay  in  their  power 
belonged  to  the  United  I^ngdom  and  the  loyal  colonies,  because 
they  were  '  by  every  right  exclusively  entitled  to  the  advantages 
to  be  derived  from  the  trade  ',  while  the  carrying  trade  was  to 
be  in  British  hands,  because  thus  British  naval  strength  might  be 
increased  and  the  sailors  left  idle  by  the  close  of  the  war  might  be 
prevented  from  entering  the  navy  of  the  United  States.    A  fuller 
vindication  of  the  pohcy  of  the  coahtion  or  a  clearer  statement 
of  some  of  the  old  commercial  principles  could  scarcely  have  been 
offered. 

Well  grounded  as  the  existing  regulations  were  thus  declared 
to  be,  they  secured  no  permanent  adoption  for  the  space  of  more 
than  four  years.  Enabling  acts  and  orders  in  council,  which 
differed  in  no  essential  respect  from  those  of  1783,  were  issued  in 
unbroken  succession  until  1788.*^^  The  ministry,  as  it  admitted, 
was  merely  testing  the  system,^^  and  to  numerous  protests  and 
appeals  returned  steadily  the  answer  that  no  reason  for  altering 
it  had  been  shown. "^^^  Whether  or  not  the  ministers  were  justified 
in  adhering  to  their  position  we  must  now  inquire. 

The  conclusions  reached  by  the  committee  in  1784  with  regard 
to  the  possibihties  of  supply  from  British  North  America  were 
largely  at  fault ;  ^^  but,  since  the  government  at  no  time  attempted 

"  The  last  but  one  of  the  ericabUng  acts,  27  Geo.  Ill,  c.  7,  provided  for  more  rigid 
enforcement.  The  illegal  introduction  of  American  produce  was  made  punishable 
by  the  forfeiture  of  both  vessel  and  cargo.  No  change,  save  in  phrasing,  is  to  bo 
observed  in  the  successive  orders  in  council :  Privy  Council  Register,  George  111, 
xxi.  614,  xxii.  91,  180,  351,  xxiii.  121,  xxiv.  93,  xxv.  126. 

"-  Grenville  in  the  house  of  commons,  11  February  1788:  Morning  Chronicle, 
12  February  1788. 

^  e.g.  Privy  Council  Register,  George  III,  xxiv.  56,  and  Publ.  Rec.  Off.,  Board  of 
Trade,  Min.  of  Comm.  of  Trade,  7,  fo.  178. 

"  Evidence  of  Aiiislee  before  the  Committee  of  Trade,  March  17S9  :  Board  of 
Trade,  Min.  of  Comm.  of  Trade,  11,  fo.  220,  216;  statistics  on  the  trade  of  the 
West  Indies  jirepared  by  Irving,  lusiwctor-Gcneral  of  Imports  and  Exports  for  Great 


..r 


440  BRITISH  COMMERCIAL  POLICY  IN  July 

to  forbid  the  importation  of  raw  produce  from  the  United  States, 
this  fact  is  interesting  rather  than  significant.  In  other  respects 
the  committee  made  few  mistakes.  The  carrying  trade  was 
immediately  and  completely  taken  over  by  British  shipping. ^^ 
According  to  the  most  trustworthy  statistics  the  supply  of  food 
appears  to  have  been  quite  sufficient  ;  '^^  and,  while  periods  of 
scarcity  and  distress  occurred,  they  would  seem  to  have  been 
attributable  rather  to  the  hurricanes  of  1784,  1785,  and  17S(i, 
than  to  the  restrictions  laid  upon  the  American  trade. "^^  American 
measures  of  retaliation,  needless  to  say,  broke  down,  although 
attempted  or  recomimended  to  Congress  by  nearly  all  the  states.''^ 
It  is  true,  indeed,  that  more  lumber  had  to  be  obtained  within 
the  islands,  that  prices  both  of  food  and  lumber  were  high,*^^  and 
that  ilHcit  trade  with  the  United  States  reached  large  propor- 
tions."" But  such  '  inconveniences  '  were  not  to  be  considered 
so  long  as  the  '  sufficient  '  profit  promised  in  1784  was  obtained, 
and  the  shipping,  exports,  and  revenue  of  the  mother  country 
were  fostered.  When  we  note  that  by  1788  the  trade  of  the 
islands  with  the  mother  country  had  increased  both  in  exports 
and  imports  by  some  twenty-five  per  cent,  over  what  it  had  been 

Britain,  Colonial  Office,  390.  5.  Knox,  writing  to  Camden,  9  Juno  1804,  admitted 
that  the  islands  could  not  yet  be  supphed  from  British  North  America :  Hist.  MSS. 
Comm.,  Var.  Coll.,  vi.  221. 

*^  Correspondence  relating  to  the  intercourse  of  the  United  States  with  the  British 
colonies :  Board  of  Trade,  Min.  of  Comm.  of  Trade,  1 1,  fo.  203,  and  Colonial  Office,  325-6. 

**  For  instance,  Treas.,  64.  72,  contains  lists  signed  by  Davison,  the  collector  at 
Jamaica,  showing  that  in  1784  that  island  received  41,000  barrels  of  bread  and  flour 
(as  compared  with  an  average  of  about  35,000  barrels  before  1775)  and  14,000  feet  of 
wood  (as  compared  with  15,000  feet  before  1775).  75  per  cent,  of  the  bread  and  flour 
and  65  per  cent,  of  the  lumber  were  from  the  United  States.  As  Jamaica  was  one  of 
the  last  islands  visited  by  vessels  from  America,  it  was  apt  to  be  less  fully  supplied 
than  the  others.    More  wood  was  cut  on  the  island  than  before  1775. 

"  A  committee  of  the  assembly  of  Jamaica  reported  that  15,000  slaves  had 
perished  in  the  island  from  starvation  or  insufficient  nutrition  during  the  years  imme- 
diately following  1783,  and  that  the  scarcity  of  food  was  the  result  both  of  the  hurricanes 
and  the  exclusion  of  American  vessels  :  Journ.  of  the  Assoc,  of  Jamaica,  viii.  429-30. 
Edwards  {Hist,  of  Jamaica,  1801,  ii.  511),  enlarging  upon  this  rei^ort,  censured  the 
government  for  its  pohcy.  It  must  be  noted  that  the  committee,  in  framing  its  report, 
was  attempting  to  explain  the  attacks  then  being  directed  against  the  slave  trade, 
and  that  its  assertions  were  not  based  on  evidence. 

**  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  Hampshire,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  South  Carolina,  all  conferred  upon 
Congress  power  to  retahate  in  commercial  matters  against  Great  Britain.  (See  the 
laws  of  these  states  in  the  collection  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society  at  Phila- 
delpliia. )  But  when  Congress,  in  accordance  with  a  report  prepared  by  Jefferson  and 
Chase,  asked  in  April  1784  for  power  to  regulate  the  trade  of  all  the  states  for  fifteen 
years,  only  three  states  gave  their  unreserved  consent :  Journals  of  Congress,  iv.  392, 
601-2. 

"  Grenville,  speaking  in  the  house  of  commons,  14  March  1787,  admitted  that  the 
price  of  provisions  and  lumber  purchased  in  America  '  had  risen  far  bej'ond  all  former 
precedent'  :    Morning  Chronicle,  15  March  1787. 

'"  Answer  to  Heads  of  Inquiry  in  the  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  February 
1785  :    Colonial  Office,  137.  84. 


11)16  THE   WEST  INDIES,  1783-03  441 

before  the  war,'^  and  that  nearly  six  liundred  vessels  were  em- 
ploj'^ed  in  its  transport,''-  we  must  conclude  that  the  objects  of  the 
ministry  had  been  successfully  accomplished,  and  that  no  reason 
existed  for  deferring  longer  the  enactment  of  a  statute  which 
should  make  the  existing  regulations  permanent.  In  February 
1788  Grenville,  the  vice-president  of  the  committee  of  trade, 
introduced  such  a  bill,  which,  after  encountering  but  a  flicker  of 
the  old  opposition,  was  easily  passed,''^ 

With  the  placing  of  this  bill  upon  the  statute  book,  the  events 
with  which  this  paper  deals  came  practically  to  an  end.  A  system 
from  which  the  West  Indians  had  anticipated  and  prophesied 
sheer  ruin  had  not  terminated  the  growth  of  their  prosperity. 
Regulations  which  the  three  leading  statesmen  of  the  time  had 
condemned  had  been  investigated,  tested,  and  made  permanent, 
because  in  point  of  fact  they  gave  the  results  which  in  those  days 
were  most  desired.  The  contexture  of  the  whole,  to  use  Burke's 
phrase,  was  but  little  torn,  and  if  there  was  depreciation  in  value 
of  any  of  the  parts,  it  was  mainly  in  the  part  now  belonging  to  the 
Thirteen  States,  powerless  in  their  divisions  to  resist  the  imposi- 
tion of  this  last  navigation  act.  Hence,  during  the  five  years 
which  followed,  there  was  no  change  in  the  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment or  in  its  results,  while  the  West  Indians,  engrossed  in  their 
efforts  to  prevent  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade,  relinquished 
their  opposition.  Yet  the  system  established  by  North  and  his 
friends  was  to  have  no  extended  existence,  and  when,  in  January 
1793,  England  expelled  Chauvelin,  the  envoy  of  the  French 
Republic,  it  Avas  already  near  virtual  abrogation.  How  the 
government  during  the  years  of  the  great  war  attempted  to 
secure  a  formal  observance  of  the  act  of  1788  by  passing  annual 
acts  of  indemnity  for  the  West  Indian  governors  who  were  forced 
to  permit  its  violation,  how  attempts  to  arrive  at  more  logical 
conditions  were  made  in  the  negotiations  with  Jay  and  \\ith 
]\Iunro  and  Pinckney,  and  how  finally  in  1806  American  ships 
were  by  statute  admitted,  under  sUght  restrictions,  to  West 
Indian  ports  camiot  here  be  told.  But  a  review  of  these  events, 
by  demonstrating  the  ease  with  which  the  Americans  were  able 
to  recapture  the  West  Indian  trade,  would  probably  strengthen 
the  conclusion  that,  from  the  eighteenth-century  point  of  view, 
the  British  government  was  both  wise  and  successful  in  its 
commercial  policy  in  the  West  Indies  during  the  ten  years  of 
peace.  Herbert  C.  Bell. 

'»  Imports  into  Great  Britain  from  the  West  Indies,  1788-9,  averaged  in  value 
£4,000,000  (Troas.,  64.  275)  as  compared  with  £3,100,000  in  1772-3  (Treas.,  64.  276). 
Exports  to  the  West  Indies,  1788-9,  were  vahied  at  £1,600,000  (Colonial  Office,  390.  5). 

"  Colonial  Office,  390.  5,  Miscellaneous  Statistics  on  Trade. 

"  28  Geo.  Ill,  c.  6 :    Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons,  xliii.  227,  278. 


[Reprinied  from  The  American  Historical  Review,  Vol.  XXII.,  No.  2,  Jan.,  1917.] 


THE    WEST    INDIA    TRADE    BEFORE   THE   AMERICAN 

REVOLUTION 

The  subject  with  which  this  paper  deals  has  not  lacked  for 
treatment  within  the  last  few  years  but  the  need  for  more  minute 
study  is  clearly  apparent.  The  actual  mechanism  of  the  trade  has 
not  as  yet  been  sufficiently  examined.  Only  vaguely  do  we  know 
the  kind  of  vessels  employed,  the  routes  followed,  and  the  methods 
of  sale,  remittance,  and  insurance.  It  has  been  the  writer's  en- 
deavor to  throw  some  light  on  these  minor  points  through  the  study 
of  documents  not  formerly  brought  under  contribution.^  But  the 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  successful  presentation  are  great.  One 
deals  with  methods  of  operation  so  various  as  almost  to  defy  classi- 
fication, with  statistics  notoriously  inaccurate,-  and  with  weights, 
measures,  and  money  values  of  local  and  changing  determination.^ 
Some  inciulgence  may  then  be  granted  if  the  picture  presented  seems 
unduly  intricate  and  if  finality  is  at  times  lacking  in  the  con- 
clusions presented. 

In  the  matter  of  goods  actually  exchanged  and  the  localities 
whence  they  were  derived  little  can  be  added  to  the  store  of  informa- 
tion long  accessible,  and  a  brief  restatement  of  the  main  facts  will 
suffice.  The  needs  of  the  British  West  Indies  for  provisions  and 
lumber  were  met  alike  by  all  of  the  continental  colonies;  but  of  the 

1  In  particular  the  Minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Trade  in  the  Public  Record 
OfSce,  London  (cited  P.  R.  O.,  B.  T.  5)  ;  the  Clifford  Papers  and  the  Pemberton 
Papers  in  the  collection  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania  (cited  Clifford 
Papers  and  Pemberton  Papers)  ;  the  uncatalogued  family  papers  of  Joseph  H. 
Coates,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia  (cited  Coates  Papers)  ;  and  the  collection  of  com- 
mercial correspondence  recently  published  by  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society 
as  Commerce  of  Rhode  Island,  vols.  I.  and  II.  (cited  Com.  of  R.  /.). 

2  The  figures  furnished  by  the  few  surviving  official  records  are  nearly  always 
far  below  the  true  ones:  report  of  the  former  inspector-general  of  exports  and 
imports  in  America,  Irving,  to  the  Committee  of  Trade,  P.  R.  O.,  B.  T.  5:  i,  p. 
135;  report  of  the  governor  of  Jamaica  on  the  trade  of  the  island,  P.  R.  O.,  C.  O. 
137:  33-  McPherson  (Annals  of  Commerce,  III.  572,  note)  also  calls  attention 
to  this  fact. 

3  Thus  a  '■  thousand  "  feet  of  lumber  might  represent  1000  or  1200  ft.,  a  barrel 
of  flour  might  be  "  lightly  "  or  firmly  packed,  and  a  hogshead  of  sugar  might  con- 
tain 12  cwt.  or  14.  Finally,  the  pound  sterling  was  worth  anywhere  from  28  to 
160  shillings  in  the  currencies  of  the  various  colonies.  Negociator's  Magazine 
(London,  1754),  pp.  213,  214. 

(272) 


2  73  Herbert  C.  Bell 

latter,  certain  groups  largely  controlled  the  export  of  particular 
articles.  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  with  some  assistance  from 
]\Iaryland  and  Virginia,  offered  virtually  the  whole  amount  of 
flour  and  bread ;  New  England,  through  the  industry  of  its  citizens 
and  their  trade  with  Nova  Scotia  and  Newfoundland,  stood  re- 
sponsible for  most  of  the  fish  and  oil,  though  large  quantities  of 
both  reached  the  islands  •  through  the  markets  of  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  and  New  York.  Pennsylvania  again  led  in  supplying 
beef,  pork,  hams,  and  tongues,  but  her  exports  were  heavily  supple- 
mented by  those  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  Corn  and  peas 
came  from  the  same  colonies  with  the  addition  of  Maryland,  while 
South  CaroHna  and  Georgia  made  their  principal  contribution  in 
rice.*  Lumber  was  to  be  had  at  most  of  the  North  American  ports, 
but  here  again  distinctions  must  be  made.  The  southern  colonies 
led  in  supplying  staves  of  red  oak  for  sugar  hogsheads  and  of  white 
oak  for  rum  casks.  Their  planks  of  oak  and  yellow  pine  stood  in 
great  demand,  and  their  cypress  shingles  were  much  preferred  to 
the  white  cedar  shingles  sold  by  the  colonies  of  the  middle  group. 
Only  in  the  export  of  boards  and  scantling  did  the  New  England 
colonies  hold  first  place,  and  even  there  only  in  the  quantity,  not 
the  quality,  of  the  goods  supplied.^  Besides  these  staples  many 
other  articles  found  place  in  the  cargoes  which  passed  constantly 
to  the  tropics :  horses  and  other  live  stock,  minor  food-stuff's  such 
as  butter,  cheese,  potatoes,  and  fruit,  or  manufactures  in  the  shape 
of  soap,  lamp  oil,  pottery,  chintzes,  and  shoes.  A  widely  varied  as- 
sortment was  usually  to  be  found  in  a  single  ship.  The  return 
ladings  from  the  islands  were  more  restricted  in  variety  and  in  bulk. 
Rum,  molasses,  and  sugar  naturally  predominated  in  the  order 
named,  but  coffee  and  cotton,  ginger  and  pimento,  mahogany  and 
log^vood,  with  hides  and  indigo  all  found  frequent  mention  in  the 
bills  of  lading. 

The  general  dimensions  of  the  trade  may  be  estimated  with  fair 
accuracy  as  regards  the  southbound  cargoes,  and  in  so  far  as  we 
may  rely  upon  official  returns.  One  year  with  another,  the  con- 
tinental colonies  exported  to  the  islands  goods  to  a  value  in  American 
ports  of  £500,000  sterHng.  By  the  addition  of  the  heavy  freight 
charges  which  commodities  so  great  in  bulk  as  compared  with  cost 
of  production  necessarily  bore,  a  value  of  £725,000  sterling  in  West 

4  P.  R.  O.,  B.  T.  5  :  i,  pp.  91,  93,  124;  Br.  Mus.,  Add.  MSS.  12404.  McPher- 
son  (Annals,  III.  572)  points  out  that  Pa.,  Mass.,  Conn.,  Va.,  N.  Y.,  R.  I.,  S.  C, 
N.  H.,  and  Md.  were  the  heaviest  exporters  to  the  West  Indies  in  the  order  named. 

5  See  note  4,  also  P.  R.  O..  B.  T.  5  :  i,  pp.  103,  124,  140,  152  ;  Br.  Mus.,  Add. 
MSS.  22677,  f-  69. 


IVes^  Lidian  Trade  before  the  Revohdioii  274 

Indian  ports  was  reached.^  The  subjoined  table^  will  show  the 
quantities  in  which  the  principal  articles  involved  were  sent  to  the 
islands.  As  regards  the  northbound  cargoes  no  satisfactory  esti- 
mates either  as  to  values  or  as  to  quantities  can  be  made.  The  West 
Indians  paid  for  American  provisions  and  lumber  in  shipments  of 
their  produce  to  North  America,  in  shipments  to  England,  in  cash,^ 
and  in  bills  of  exchange.^  The  North  Americans  often  secured 
part  or  all  of  their  return  ladings  in  the  French  and  Dutch  islands, 
and  succeeded  in  entering  large  quantities  of  this  foreign  produce 
as  goods  of  British  origin.  Hence  it  could  not  even  then  be  ascer- 
tained what  returns  in  the  direct  shipment  of  their  own  produce  the 
British  islands  were  able  to  make.  The  most  trustworthy  of  the 
various  contemporary  estimates  places  the  value  of  these  shipments 
at  £400,000  sterling  in  West  Indian"  or  £420,000  sterling  in  North 

6  B.  T.  5  :  I,  pp.  12,  358,  159,  160;  ibid.,  4,  p.  46S.  Irving  estimated  that  the 
freight  charges  on  lumber  and  corn  amounted  to  100  per  cent,  of  the  prime  cost, 
on  all  articles  to  45  per  cent.  Rates  ranged  from  35  to  40  shillings  per  ton. 
The  committee  of  West  India  merchants,  against  whom  Irving  was  testifying, 
practically  agreed  to  his  figures. 

'  This  table  shows  the  quantities  of  American  provisions  and  lumber  annually 
consumed  in  the  British  West  Indies  during  the  years  1771-1773-  It  is  compiled 
from  three  tables  furnished  by  Irving  (B.  T.  5:  i,  pp.  90-102).  by  Edward  Long 
(Br.  Mus.,  Add.  MSS.  12404),  and  by  a  copy  of  a  report  issued  by  the  London 
Custom  House  in  March,  1775,  and  signed  by  Stanley,  the  secretary  (Br.  Mus.. 
Add.  MSS.  12431,  f.  170). 

Bread  and  flour. 
Beef   and   pork. 
Fish, 


130,000 

bbls. 

15,000 

<t 

17,000 

hogsheads 

16,000 

bbls. 

12,000 

quintals 

400,000 

bush. 

20,000 

bbls. 

21,000 

thousand 

17,000 

tt 

1,900 

It 

16,000 

it 

Corn, 

Rice, 

Boards  and  planks, 

Staves  and  heading, 

Hoops, 

Shingles, 

8  See  note  73- 

9  See  note  76.' 

10  This  is  the  estimate  furnished  by  Irving  to  the  Committee  of  Trade.  The 
conflicting  nature  of  the  evidence  both  as  to  the  quantities  of  British  West  India 
produce  exported  to  the  continental  colonies  and  as  to  the  value  of  the  whole 
illustrates  the  difficulty  of  reaching  final  conclusions  in  regard  to  many  phases  of 
colonial  trade  at  this  time.  Custom-house  records  even  when  discoverable  are 
practically  worthless.  Bryan  Edwards  (Thoughts  on  the  Late  Proceedings  of 
Government,  London,  1784)  points  out  that  many  of  the  bays,  creeks,  and  ship- 
ping places  in  the  islands  were  remote  from  the  ports  of  entry  and  that  the 
masters  of  American  vessels,  in  order  to  save  delay,  made  manifests  and  took  out 


2  75  Herbert  C.  Bell 

American  ports. ^^ 

In  approaching  the  methods  by  which  this  trade  was  carried 
on  it  is  best  to  consider  first  that  part — a  part  constituting  indeed 
all  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  whole — which  was  completely  or 
principally  in  American  hands.  And  here  at  once  there  becomes 
necessary  a  certain  mental  readjustment.  One  must  commence  by 
discarding  all  ideas  of  business  corporations,  of  shipping  lines  and 
liners,  of  fixed  routes,  of  insurance  companies — in  short,  all  familiar 
notions  of  the  present  mechanism  of  commerce.  The  American 
merchants  of  the  day  traded  individually  or  in  loose  partnerships. 
Their  largest  ventures  seldom  involved  sums  of  more  than  a  few 
hundred  pounds^-  and  the  most  wealthy  and  prosperous,  were  not 
above  giving  attention  to  the  minutiae  of  small  transactions.  Many 
of  their  letters  to  captains  and  commercial  correspondents  read  like 
communications  between  familiar  friends.  Price  schedules  and  ac- 
counts of  sales  jostle  continually  with  inquiries  concerning  the  health 
of  the  recipient  and  his  "dear"  family,  with  announcements  of  the 
sending  of  gifts  and  with  the  extending  of  invitations,  all  couched 
in  terms  of  the  utmost  cordiality.     Moreover  the  business  methods 

clearances  in  advance.  In  his  opinion  they  usually  took  out  more  produce  than 
they  entered.  But  clearances  were  at  times  granted  for  empty  casks  and  hogs- 
heads, which  were  filled  in  the  foreign  islands.  That  officials  in  continental  ports 
were  guilty  of  permitting  the  entry  of  foreign  produce  as  goods  of  British  origin 
is  well  known.  (See,  e.  g.,  G.  L.  Beer,  British  Colonial  Policy  1754—17(^5,  New 
York,  1907,  p.  239.)  Nor  are  the  estimates  of  the  best-informed  contemporaries 
of  greater  value.  At  the  great  inquiry  held  by  the  Committee  of  Trade  in  1784, 
while  Irving  presented  the  figures  given  above,  the  West  India  merchants  claimed 
that  the  British  islands  exported  to  the  continent  produce  almost  equal  in  value 
to  the  provisions  and  lumber  received.  But  the  committee  decided  that  British 
West  India  produce  was  accepted  in  payment  for  only  one-half  the  articles  sent 
from  the  southern  colonies,  one-quarter  of  those  from  the  middle  group,  and  one- 
tenth  of  those  from  New  England.  P.  R.  O.,  B.  T.  5  :  i,  pp.  25,  159,  241.  Reports 
of  the  governors  of  Jamaica  on  the  trade  of  that  island  in  1765  (P.  R.  O.,  C.  O. 
137:  33)  and  in  1774  (C.  O.  137:  69)  show  the  same  startling  discrepancies.  Of 
contemporary  writers  Chalmers  (Opinions  on  Interesting  Subjects,  London,  1784) 
follows  Irving;  Sheffield  (-Observations,  London,  1784)  and  McPherson  (Annals, 
III.  403)  seem  to  accept  the  Jamaica  report  of  1765  ;  and  Bryan  Edwards  (Thoughts 
on  the  Late  Proceedings  of  Government)  places  the  value  of  British  produce 
exported  to  the  continent  at  £460,000.  Still  more  futile  must  be  any  attempt  to 
state  with  exactness  the  quantity  in  which  any  one  commodity  entered  into  the 
trade.     For  rum,  e.  g.,  the  estimates  vary  from  2,800,000  to  4,070,000  gallons. 

11  Whether  or  not  this  estimate  of  freight  charges  is  accurate  the  amount 
must  have  been  relatively  small.  The  freight  from  Barbados  to  Philadelphia  on 
a  hogshead  of  rum,  worth  approximately  £20  (currency),  was  only  5  per  cent, 
of  that  sum.     Hist.   Soc.   of   Pa.,  Wharton  Papers,  Journal  of   Charles  Wharton,   p. 

534- 

12  Taking  the  insurance  placed  upon  eleven  cargoes  we  reach  an  average  of 
^/     £788  sterling.     Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.   120,   148,   149,   185,  239,  249,  474. 


IVes^  India )i  Trade  before  the  Revolution  276 

of  these  men  were  as  easy  and  unconventional  as  their  epistolary 
style.     Not  that  they  lacked  keenness  of  business  sense.     Rather 
was  it  the  case  that  their  very  alertness,  their  intentness  upon  gain, 
led  them  to  seek  profit  whenever,  wherever,  and  however  it  was  to 
be  found.     Their  ships,  like  the  tramp  steamers  of  to-day,  frequently 
wandered,  without  prearranged  plans,  from  port  to  port,  the  ship-  ^ 
captains  buying,  selling,  bartering,  or  carrying  freights  as  occasion 
ofifcred.^^     Hence  it  resulted  that  the  West  Indian  trade,  instead  of 
being  a   mere   exchange   of   commodities   between   two   groups   of 
colonies,  stood  as  part  of  a  greater  system:  stood  in  intimate  con- 
nection alike  with  the  coasting  traffic  and  with  lines  of  commerce 
extending  to  Nova  Scotia,  Newfoundland,"  Great  Britain,  southern 
Europe,  and  Africa.     Some  analysis  is   required   for  making  this 
clear.     The  connection  of  the  West  Indian  with  the  coasting  trade 
was  twofold.     Southbound  cargoes  of  the  former  were  often  as- 
sembled by   the   use   of   coasters   at   the  larger  American   ports  ;^^ 
northbound  cargoes  were  distributed  in  like  manner."     But,  in  what 
probably  constituted  a  majority  of  the  voyages,  the  connection  was 
closer  still.     The  assembling  and  distribution  were  operated  by  the 
same  vessels  which  plied  to  and  from  the  islands,  and  operated  more- 
over in  conjunction  with  coastwise  traffic  of  the  ordinary  sort.     On 
the  way  south  to  the  Caribbees  goods  laden  in  New  England  might 
be   partially    or    wholly    exchanged    for   those    of    the   middle    and 
southern  colonies ;  on  the  way  north  rum  and  sugar  might  gradually 
be  displaced  by  rice  or  flour,  bread  or  iron.^^     Again  West  Indian 
and  coasting  trades  alike  were  closely  related  to  the  New  England 
fisheries   and   to   the   commerce   carried   on   by   the   "continental" 
colonies  with  Nova  Scotia  and  Newfoundland.^^     In  this  last-men- 

13  See  note   21. 

14  Sir  Hugh  Palliser,  governor  of  Newfoundland  1764-1769,  reported  that 
the  trade  of  New  England  with  that  island  occupied  104  vessels  of  an  aggregate 
tonnage  of  6048.  The  amount  realized  from  the  sale  of  the  northbound  cargoes 
and  of  the  vessels  sometimes  sold  with  them  averaged  more  than  £100,000  ster- 
ling per  year.     B.  T.  5  :   i,  p.  147. 

15  Coates  Papers,  William  Redwood  to  Samuel  Coates,  Newport.  July  6,  1773. 

16  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  134. 

17  As  the  colonies  of  the  southern  group  had  little  shipping  of  their  own 
New  England  vessels  sometimes  left  West  Indian  produce  at  southern  ports  even 
while  sailing  southwards  on  fresh  visits  to  the  islands.  The  same  vessels  some- 
times plied  between  the  islands  and  the  southern  colonies  without  returning  north. 
B.  T.  5  :   I,  pp.  103,   104,  125;  Coin,  of  R.  I.,  I.  132,  i33.  179- 

18  Evidence  of  Irving  and  Sir  Hugh  Palliser  before  the  Committee  of  Trade, 
B.  T.  5  :  I,  pp.  93,  94,  146-148;  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  406,  417,  460.  In  1771  the  New 
Englanders  purchased  67,000  quintals  of  dried  fish  (principally  cod  and  mackerel) 
at  Newfoundland.     TBie  rum  used  was  distilled  in  New  England. 


2  77  Herbert  C.  Bell 

tioned  commerce,  rum,  molasses,  and  sugar  on  the  one  hand,  and, 
on  the  other,  fish  of  the  inferior  grade  consumed  by  West  Indian 
slaves,  seem  to  have  been  the  articles  most  frequently  exchanged. 
Vessels  which  engaged  in  the  fisheries  during  the  summer  months 
turned  south  on  the  approach  of  winter,  bartered  their  wares  along 
the  Atlantic  coast  as  far  down  as  Georgia,  and  at  times  concluded 
their  voyages  in  the  Caribbean  Sea.  Less  significant,  although 
perhaps  more  interesting,  is  the  connection  of  the  West  Indian  trade 
with  American  commerce  farther  afield.  Vessels  of  the  larger  sort, 
having  discharged  their  lumber  and  provisions  in  the  islands,  fre- 
quently received  there  cargoes  for  the  British  island^  or  southern 
Europe.^^  Indeed  the  master  of  such  a  ship  reaching  Bridgetown 
or  Kingston  might  not  be  sure  whether  London  or  Philadelphia 
would  be  his  next  port  of  call.-°  The  return  voyage  might  reverse 
the  process.  A  North  American  vessel  returning  home  from  Great 
Britain  might  be  ordered  to  proceed  first  to  the  West  Indies  either 
directly  or  via  Madeira  or  Portugal.  At  the  last-named  places  wine 
or  salt  would  be  added  to  the  British  manufactures  and  Irish  pro- 
visions of  which  her  original  lading  was  composed. ^^  Last  of  all 
there  is  to  be  noted  the  connection  of  the  West  Indian  .commerce 
with  the  American  slave-trade.  Slave  vessels,  loaded  and  despatched 
in  North  American  ports,  carried  slaves  from  Africa  to  the  West 
Indies  for  sale  there.^^     From  the  West  Indies  they  returned  home 

19  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  2,^2,  390,  392,  396,  403,  442,  443.  The  produce  taken 
down  would  not  purchase  a  cargo  for  Europe,  but  additions  were  botight  with 
bills  of  exchange.     B.  T.  5  :    i,  p.  54. 

20  Clifford  Papers,  V.  178.  Whether  the  vessel  went  to  Europe  probably 
depended  upon  the  freight  rates,  i.  e.,  the  possible  profits  involved.  Coates  Papers, 
Edward  Dawers  to  Israel  Pemberton,  jr.  and  Company,  Antigua,  August  zt ,  1746. 
On  the  other  hand  some  American  vessels  were  regularly  assigned  to  such  trade. 
Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  433. 

21  The  shipment  of  Irish  produce  directly  to  the  colonies  was  not  legal  until 
1778,  18  Geo.  III.,  c.  55;  20  Geo.  III.,  c.  10.  It  appears  however  to  have  taken 
place.  Coyn.  of  R.  I.,  I.  299,  304,  306,  307.  An  interesting  voyage  was  that  of 
the  brig  Charlotte  belonging  to  Aaron  Lopez  in  1769-1770.  She  arrived  October 
29,  1769.  at  Bristol  with  pig-iron,  mahogany,  and  logwood.  Finding  no  freight 
for  the  West  Indies  and  being  herself  unsalable,  she  carried  sugar,  rice,  iron,  and 
tin  plates  as  freight  to  Dublin.  There  she  took  on  300  barrels  of  beef  for  Ja- 
maica and  received  also  the  order  to  pick  up  30  pipes  of  wine  at  Madeira.  She 
was  insured  to  Jamaica,  the  Bay  of  Honduras,  and  Rhode  Island.  After  having 
been  driven  into  Whitehaven  by  bad  weather,  she  arrived  at  Jamaica  in  June 
and  at  Honduras  before  September.  She  reached  Charleston  with  mahogany 
before  December  7,  1770.  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  295,  298-301,  304,  307,  308,  309,  316, 
335.   336,   354- 

22  Just  before  the  Revolution  good  adult  slaves  sold  in  the  West  Indies  for 
about    £35   sterling  per  head.     Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  425,  42S,  457. 


IVes^  Indian  Trade  before  the  Revolution  278 

before  coinniencing  a  fresh  voyage,"  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
suppose  that  they  obtained  some  share  of  the  carrying  trade  from 
the  islands  to  the  continent.-* 

As  to  the  shipping  employed,  the  greatest  variety  is  again  to  be 
observed.  Brigs  were  in  the  majority  but  sloops,  schooners,  and 
snows-'^  were  to  be  found  in  great  numbers.  Vessels  which  engaged 
from  time  to  time  in  transatlantic  trade  were  naturally  of  different 
type  from  those  which  kept  to  the  western  hemisphere.  The  latter 
were  small,  averaging  at  about  forty  tons^''  and  provided  only  with 
single  decks,  on  which  much  of  the  cargo  was  placed.  The  former 
were  double-decked  craft-^  of  100  to  300  tons,  the  majority  falling 
between  100  and  150.-^  As  the  "out"  cargoes  south  and  east 
bound  were  much  more  bulky  than  the  return  ladings  either  from 
the  West  Indies  or  from  Europe,  and  as  shipbuilding  was  in  general 
cheaper  in  North  America  than  in  Europe,^^  these  vessels  were  often 
sold  in  British  and  West  Indian  ports.^**     In  the  matter  of  owner- 

23  E.  g.,  the  Adventure.     Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.   397,  428,  473  ;   H.  8. 

2i  Ibid.,  I.  456,  461,  462,  467,  468. 

-5  A  snow  was  a  vessel  which  carried,  besides  two  principal  masts,  a  small 
third   mast  placed  behind  the  main   mast  and   equipped   with  a  trysail. 

"6  As  to  the  number  and  tonnage  of  the  American  vessels  trading  in  the 
British  islands  the  evidence  is  very  conflicting.  From  the  testimony  offered  by 
the  London  committee  of  West  India  merchants,  by  Irving,  by  William  Knox,  and 
others  before  the  Committee  of  Trade,  B.  T.  5:  i,  pp.  12,  13,  38,  158;  from  the 
report  in  1774  of  the  governor  of  Jamaica,  C.  O.  137:  69;  and  from  Naval  Office 
Lists,  C.  O.  142:  16,  it  has  been  calculated  that  some  400  vessels  of  40  to  50 
tons  and  something  less  than  half  that  number  with  tonnage  averaging  about 
three  times  as  much  were  engaged  in  the  traffic.  These  vessels,  and  particularly 
the  smaller  ones,  made  two  or  three  round  trips  per  year.  Long  points  out  that 
the  smaller  craft  enjoyed  great  advantages  in  being  able  to  sail  over  bars  and 
into  small  streams  and  ports.  Br.  Mus.,  Add.  MSS.  12404.  Many  of  them  were 
probably  built  and  operated  as  co-operative  enterprises  by  groups  of  persons  who 
were  not  primarily  merchants  or  shipowners.  Letter  in  the  Morning  Chronicle 
and  London  Advertiser  for  January  23,   1784. 

27  Vessels  of  100  tons  or  upwards  were  nearly  always  double-decked. 
Smaller  vessels  could  cross  the  ocean  but  could  not  be  insured.     B.  T.  5  :  i,  p.  14. 

28  The  dimensions  of  two  of  these  vessels  are  given  as  follows.  A  brigan- 
tine  of  125  tons  burthen — length  by  the  keel  -52  ft.,  beam  20  ft.,  hold  gl^  ft. 
and  between  decks  4  ft.  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  219.  For  a  larger  vessel,  length  by 
keel  74  ft.,  beam  25  ft.,  hold  12  ft.,  between  decks  4  ft.  8  in.  Coates  Papers, 
Elias  Bland  to  John  Reynell,  London,  May  31,  1746.  The  more  perishable  part 
of  the  cargo  was  apparently  placed  between  decks.     Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  441. 

29  James  Anderson,  who  before  the  American  Revolution  had  been  employed 
by  a  Glasgow  firm  as  agent  for  the  building  of  ships  at  Boston,  testified  before 
the  Committee  of  Trade  that  the  best  American-built  vessels  were  as  costly  as 
British-built  craft  of  the  same  tonnage  but  that  an  inferior  type  could  be  con- 
structed more  cheaply  in  America.     B.  T.  5  :   3,  p.  486. 

30  B.  T.  5  :  I,  pp.  13,  54;  Com.  of  R.  I..  I.  6,  104,  118,  144,  147,  151.  152,  160, 
191,  219,  357,  401.  The  prices  realized  ranged  from  £250  sterling  to  £900 
sterling.     Vessels  in  good  condition  brought    £500  sterling  or  more. 


2/9  Herbert  C.  Bell 

ship,  fixed  rules  were  again  wanting.  While  in  numerous  cases 
merchants  or  captains  appeared  as  sole  owners,  joint  proprietorship 
seems  to  have  been  the  rule.^^  In  the  smaller  vessels  North  Ameri- 
can merchants  and  captains  frequently  held  joint  "  risks  ",  and  West 
Indian  merchants  sometimes  acquired  interests  of  one-quarter  or 
one-half.  In  similar  fashion  European  traders  stood  as  co-owners 
of  ships  going  to  their  ports.  The  system  was  probably  useful,  not 
only  in  decreasing  the  risks  of  the  individual  owner  but  in  producing 
among  captains  and  oversea  merchants  more  personal  and  vital 
interest  in  the  success  of  the  voyages  undertaken.  A  similar  pooling 
of  interests  is  observable  in  the  manner  of  placing  insurance. 
Groups  of  merchants  in  the  larger  British  or  American  ports^' 
underwrote  the  insurance  demanded  on  vessels  and  cargoes,  taking 
individual  risks  to  an  amount  in  most  cases  of  £50  to  £100.^^  In- 
surance was  made  for  each  voyage  or  section  of  a  voyage  and  rates 
varied  according  to  the  distance  covered,  the  dangers  likely  to  be  en- 
countered, and  the  season  of  the  year.^*  For  voyages  between  any 
two  of  the  three  groups  of  ports  represented  by  Great  Britain,  North 
America,  and  the  West  Indies  two  per  cent,  to  three  per  cent,  was 
usually  paid.^^  Thus  a  vessel  going  from  Rhode  Island  to  Bristol 
via  Jamaica  was  insured  for  the  whole  trip  at  four  per  cent,  to  six 
per  cent.^^  A  word  may  be  added  concerning  the  captains  and 
crews.     Of  the  skippers   some  were  men  of  education  and   social 

31  Pemberton  Papers,  XXI.  79;  XXV.  no;  Coates  Papers,  Elias  Bland  to 
John  Reynell,  London,  May  31,  1746;  Stevens,  Porter,  and  Company  to  John 
Reynell,  Madeira,  April  10,  1748.  William  Redwood  to  Samuel  Coates,  Newport, 
July  6,  1773,  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  233,  235,  511. 

32  Of  the  merchants  whose  papers  have  been  examined  those  of  Philadel- 
phia found  underwriters  in  America  while  those  of  Rhode  Island  placed  their 
insurance  in  England.  New  England  merchants  however  sometimes  turned  to 
colonial  underwriters.  Coates  Papers,  Samuel  Briard  to  John  Reynell,  Antigua, 
August  22,  1759.  Sometimes  a  vessel  was  insured  in  England  and  in  the  colonies 
at  the  same  time.  Coates  Papers,  John  Wendell  to  John  Reynell,  Portsmouth 
(N.  H.),  July  5,  1/59. 

33  Com.  of  R.  I..  I.  120,  14S,  149,  185,  et  al.  In  England  a  policy  cost  8 
shillings  and  an  agent  who  placed  insurance  often  charged  J/2  per  cent,  com- 
mission  for  his  trouble. 

34/fo,'c/.,  pp.  119,  166,  221,  253,  254,  296,  397;  Clifford  Papers,  IV.  157; 
Coates  Papers,  John  Moffat  to  John  Reynell,  Portsmouth,  August   14,   1758. 

35  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  120,  148,  149,  185. 

36  In  time  of  war  rates  were  of  course  much  higher  when  the  policies  cov- 
ered seizures  by  war  vessels  or  privateers.  Thus  in  1757,  1758,  and  1759  rates 
for  voyages  between  the  continent  and  the  West  Indies  were  1 1  per  cent,  to  22 
per  cent.,  between  the  continent  and  Great  Britain  15  per  cent,  to  40  per  cent., 
and  between  the  West  Indies  and  Great  Britain  22  per  cent,  to  40  per  cent. 
Coates   Papers,  general. 


ll^es^  Indian  Trade  before  the  Revolution  280 

equipment,  connected  by  ties  of  blood  or  friendship  with  the  mer- 
chants and  often  entering  their  ranks  after  apprenticeship  at  sea.^' 
The  majority  were  hardy  seamen,  more  at  home  with  the  wheel  than 
with  the  pen,  yet  able  to  manage  the  business  of  the  owners  under 
conditions  wdiich  often  presented  the  greatest  difficulties.  The  prac- 
tice of  allowing  to  them,  in  addition  to  wages  and  commissions,-'*  the 
privilege  of  carrying  certain  amounts  of  goods  on  their  own  ac- 
count^°  must  have  quickened  their  interest.  Of  their  general  honesty 
and  ability  there  seems  no  question.  Of  the  sailors,  whose  numbers 
may  be  estimated  as  one  for  eight  tons  in  the  smaller  craft  and  one 
for  twelve  in  the  larger,-*"  one  hears  less.  They  too  would  seem  to 
have  been  well  paid-*^  and  well  behaved.  About  one-third  of  their 
number  were  colored. *- 

So  far  we  have  dealt  with  shipping  operated  from  North  America 
and  from  the  West  Indies'*^  alone.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that 
British  vessels  also  were  employed  in  the  carrying-trade  between  the 
islands  and  the  continent.  Of  these,  two  classes  are  to  be  dis- 
tinguished, the  "  stationed  "  ships  and  the  "  seekers  ".**  The  sta- 
tioned ships  were  vessels  assigned  definitely  to  this  branch  of  com- 
merce. They  visited  successively  American,  West  Indian,  and 
British  ports  and  had  the  advantage  of  securing  in  the  last  two 

3"  A  good  example  of  this  is  found  in  the  Clifford  Papers,  IV.  144,  145,  149, 
157.  In  one  instance  we  find  a  former  midshipman  of  the  royal  navy  seeking 
employment  as  a  merchant  captain,  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  31.  One  frequently  finds 
that  members  of  a  merchant's  family  acted  as  captains  of  his  ships. 

3S  In  spite  of  the  difficulties  in  dealing  with  colonial  currencies  one  may  gain 
the  impression  that  the  captains  were  at  least  fairly  well  paid.  How  general  was 
the  practice  of  allowing  to  them  commissions  on  sales  I  have  not  been  able  to 
discover.     Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  61,  441  ;  II.  45. 

39  Ibid. 

40  This  calculation  is  made  in  the  same  manner  and  on  virtually  the  same 
evidence  as  that  concerning  tonnage,  supra. 

41  Forty-five  shillings  per  month  as  compared  with  27  shillings  paid  on 
British  ships.  Pari.  Hist.,  XIX.  708;  B.  T.  5  :  i.  p.  166.  Irving  declared  that 
many  of  them  were  Britons  bvit  this  was  denied  by  the  West  Indian  merchants. 
B.  T.  s:   I,  pp.  24,  166.     At  St.  Eustatius  the  rate  was  $io  per  month.     Com.  of 

R.  I.,  I.  354. 

42  Papers  printed  by  the  order  of  the  assembly  of  Jamaica  for  submission  to 
Parliament,  St.  I?.go,   1784. 

43  In  a  list  of  vessels  arriving  at  Jamaica  from  North  America  between 
Christmas,  1766,  and  Christmas,  1767,  only  3  per  cent,  are  listed  as  ^^'est  Indian 
vessels.  P.  R.  O.,  C.  O.  142:  19.  Actual  examples  of  the  ownership  of  such 
vessels  by  West  Indians  are  found  in  Pemberton   Papers,  XXIV.  44;   XXV.    110. 

44 1  have  adopted  the  terminology  employed  by  persons  testifying  before 
the  Committee  of  Trade  in   1784. 


28  I  Herbert  C.  Bell 

stages  of  their  voyages  at  least  freights  of  tempting  bulk.*^  Yet 
they  were  under  a  serious  handicap  in  competing  with  American 
vessels,  and  particularly  with  those  of  the  smaller  type.  Owing  to 
their  large  size  and  the  inability  of  their  owners  to  deal  at  so  great 
a  distance  with  producers,  their  operations  in  America  were  confined 
to  large  ports.*''  The  freights  which  they  here  took  on  for  the 
islands  had  been  assembled  at  some  expense  and  purchased  by  agents 
on  commission.*'^  By  build  they  were  unfitted  for  the  carriage  of 
lumber,  yet  the  expenses  of  operating  them  were  relatively  high.*® 
Most  fatal  of  all  was  the  fact  that  a  full  voyage  could  not  regularly 
be  completed  within  a  year.*^  It  is  not  surprising  then  to  find  that 
few  ships  were  thus  stationed  for  any  length  of  time.^''  The 
"seekers"  were  vessels  which  ran  between  the  islands  and  the 
continent  in  order  to  fill  up  time  during  which  they  would  otherwise 
have  been  lying  idle  in  West  Indian  harbors.  Some  had  left  British 
goods  in  southern  Europe  and  crossed  in  ballast  to  the  islands; 
others  were  British  slavers.  All  were  waiting  to  carry  West  Indian 
produce  home.  What  profit  they  picked  up  in  the  intercolonial 
trade  was  merely  added  gain,  for  the  three  months'  trip  to  the 
continent  involved  but  little  extra  expense.''^     It  would  seem,  how- 

45  Generally  speaking,  the  bulk  of  freights  carried  from  Great  Britain  to 
North  America  or  the  West  Indies  was  small  as  compared  with  that  of  the  return 
ladings.  According  to  Irving  the  proportion  was  as  i  to  lo.  Again  the  bulk  of 
the  southbound  greatly  exceeded  the  bulk  of  the  northbound  cargoes  passing 
between  North  America  and  the  West  Indies.  B.  T.  5:  i,  pp.  120-122,  132; 
Coates  Papers,  Michael  Atkins  to  John  Reynell,  Bristol,  January   15,   1755. 

46  They  apparently  averaged  about  200  tons  in  burthen,  B.  T.  5  :  i,  pp.  14, 
64  ;  return  of  vessels  entering  Jamaica  from  North  America  between  Christmas, 
1766,  and  Christmas,  1767,  P.  R.  O.,  C.  O.  142:  19;  Br.  Mus.,  Add.  MSS.  12404. 

4"  The  rate  for  purchasing  in   North  America  was  5   per  cent,  to  6  per  cent. 
i»  1755.  Coates  Papers,  Michael  Atkins  to  John  Reynell,  Bristol,  January  15,  1755. 
^s  Ibid.,  B.  T.  s  :   i,  pp.  53,  54. 

49  The  crop  of  sugar  and  rum  came  on  the  West  India  market  from  January 
to  June.  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  20,  225,  443,  et  al.  But  a  vessel  would  not  in  many 
cases  receive  a  full  lading  before  the  late  spring  and  for  the  trip  to  England 
anywhere  from  6  to  11  weeks  were  necessary.  Ibid.,  pp.  383,  390,  392,  396,  403, 
499.  If  she  arrived  in  England  in  July  she  would  not  be  ready  to  sail  again 
before  late  August  or  September.  Ibid.,  pp.  403,  413;  Coates  Papers,  Michael 
Atkins  to  John  Reynell,  Bristol,  January  15,  1755.  Yet  it  was  necessary  that  she 
should  reach  North  America,  discharge  her  cargo,  reload,  and  arrive  at  the 
islands  by  Christmas  time  or  the  beginning  of  January.  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  433  ; 
B.  T.  5  :  I,  pp.  13,  14;  Coates  Papers,  Michael  Atkins  to  John  Reynell,  Bristol, 
January  15,  1755.  That  she  should  succeed  in  doing  this  year  after  year  was 
practically   impossible.     Atkins  to   Reynell,  supra;   B.  T.  5  :    i,  p.   13. 

50  Irving's  statement  to  this  effect,  B.  T.  5  :  i,  p.  121,  is  borne  out  by  a  letter 
of  Elias  Bland  to  John  Reynell,  August  17,   1756,  in  the  Coates  Papers.  , 

51  Some  in  fact  went  merely  in  return  for  the  promise  of  a  lading  for  Eng-i 
land,  others  in  order  to  escape  hurricanes.     B.  T.  5  :    i,  pp.  39,  40,  64.  I 


-  IVes/  Indian  Trade  before  the  Revohitio7i  282 

ever,  that  their  share  of  the  carr>'ing  trade,  like  that  of  the  stationed 
ships,  was  comparatively  small. ^- 

So  much  for  the  general  outlines  of  the  trade.  For  the  study  of 
details  it  will  be  convenient  to  confine  our  attention  to  the  simple 
and  typical  case  of  a  small  ship,  owned  and  despatched  by  a  North 
American  merchant,  carrying  no  supercargo,  and  engaging  for  the 
time  in  no  other  branch  of  commerce.  The  cargo  of  such  a  vessel, 
taken  on  at  one  or  at  several  ports,"  was  usually  the  property  of  a 
number  of  persons.  Besides  the  large  share  of  the  merchant  prin- 
cipally concerned,  various  small  lots  of  goods,  representing  the  re- 
mittances and  "  ventures  "^^  of  North  Americans  or  goods  purchased 
on  the  orders  of  West  Indians,^^  were  taken  as  freight.  On  the  deck 
were  placed  piles  of  lumber,^'^  live  stock,"  and  casks  of  salt  provi- 
sions f^  below  were  stored  more  perishable  goods.  But  deck  and 
hold  were  both  well  filled,  for  lumber,  which  on  an  average  voyage 
filled  two-thirds  of  all  the  space,''*  was  used  to  fill  all  gaps.^°  The 
cargo  safely  stowed  and  bonds  given  for  its  delivery  at  destinations 
legally  permissible,^^  the  sailing  orders^-  were  opened.  In  the  fram- 
ing of  these  orders  careful  consideration  had  probably  been  given 
to  the  nature  and  amounts  of  shipments  which  had  recently  left 

52  B.  T.  5  :  I,  pp.  48,  53,  54.  According  to  the  report  of  the  governor  of  Ja- 
maica in  1774  very  few  British  ships  carried  American  produce  to  that  island.  C. 
O.  137:  69.  The  return  of  vessels  arriving  at  Jamaica  from  North  America  be- 
tween Christmas,  1766,  and  Christmas,  1767,  shows  that  the  tonnage  of  the  British 
vessels  amounted  to  only  17  per  cent,  of  the  whole.  C.  O.  142:  19.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  the  trade  of  Jamaica  amounted  to  nearly  half  that  of  all  the 
British  islands  combined. 

53  Excellent  specimens  of  the  old  warehouses  occupied  by  the  West  Indian 
merchants  are  still  to  be  found  on  the  Delaware  waterfront  at  Philadelphia. 

■  54  A  "  venture  "  consisted  of  any  consignment  of  goods  sent  as  a  matter  of 
speculation  to  be  sold  for  whatever  they  would  bring.  It  might  comprise  no 
more  than  a  single  barrel  of  hams  despatched  by  some  thrifty  housewife.  Pem- 
berton  Papers,  XXI.  79;  Clifford  Papers,  IV.  114;  Coates  Papers,  Joshua  Howell 
to  John  Reynell,  Barbados,  August  3,  1748- 

55  Some  West  Indian  merchants  probably  contracted  for  fixed  annual  sup- 
plies of   North  American  goods.     Com.   of  R.  I.,  I.    176. 

56  Evidence  of  Brook  Watson  before  the  Committee  of  Trade,  March  20, 
1784.  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  257,  490.  The  practice  was  not  however  without  its  dis- 
advantages.    B.  T.  5  :    I,  p.   54;   Com.  of  R.   I.,  I.  450,  45i- 

5T  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  261. 

58  Ibid.,  p.  257. 

59  According  at  least  to  Irving's  estimate,  B.  T.  5:   i,  p.  158. 

60  Clifford  Papers,  V.  121  ;  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  257. 

61  Specimens  of  the  various  kinds  of  bonds  and  certificates  then  in  use  are 
preserved  in  the  collection  of  the  Hist.  Soc.  of  Pa.,  Custom  House  Papers,  Phila- 
delphia, I. 

62  E.  g.,  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  60,  64,  96,  162, 


2  83  Herbert  C  Bell 

North  America  for  particular  West  India  islands  and  to  the  direc- 
tion of  the  prevailing  winds.*'^  On  conclusions  arrived  at  from  these 
facts,  and  because  agreements  had  been  made  for  the  dehvery  of 
goods  at  certain  ports,  the  routes  to  be  followed  on  both  the  outward 
and  the  home  voyages  were  perhaps  laid  down.  But  more  likely  was 
the  captain  to  discover  that  the  owners  expected  him  to  search  out 
the  places  where  the  highest  prices  were  to  be  obtained  in  the  dis- 
posal of  his  out-cargo  and  the  lowest  in  the  purchase  of  the  return 
lading.*'*  Supposing  that  he  received  orders  so  loosely  framed,  his 
route  was  largely  predetermined  by  the  direction  of  the  winds.  By 
searching  first  the  Windward  Islands,  then  the  Leeward,  and  finally 
Jamaica  he  found  through  most  of  the  year  winds  which  favored 
him  at  every  stage.*'^  The  voyage  from  the  last  continental  to  the 
first  island  port  occupied,  in  ordinary  weather,  from  three  to  four 
weeks. ''^ 

Having  arrived  in  the  islands  the  captain  had  at  once  to  set  about 
disposing  of  his  goods.  Disposal  of  at  least  a  part  had  probably 
been  prearranged.  Some  parcels  had  been  sent  as  remittances  to 
creditors,  others  consigned  to  commission  agents  who  undertook 
sale  and  collection  at  a  rate  of  ten  or  twelve  per  cent.^'  Regarding 
the  disposition  of  the  remainder  a  choice  of  methods  offered.  The 
captain  delivered  them  to  commission  agents,^^  personally  sold  them 
to  merchants  and  planters  in  considerable  lots,*''*  or,  as  a  last  resort, 
retailed  them  from  a  shop  rented  for  the  purpose.'"  In  any  case  his 
difficulties  were  great.  West  Indian  merchants  and  planters  alike 
enjoyed  but  small  repute  in  business  affairs,'^  and.  irrespective  of 

63/izJ.,    pp.    257,    258. 

64  It  is  possible  that  the  merchants  of  Philadelphia  issued  orders  of  this  sort 
more  frequently  than  those  of  Rhode  Island.  Such  a  conclusion  might  be  drawn 
from  such  papers  as  have  been  examined.  But  in  Rhode  Island  the  practice  was 
not   unknown.     Com.   of  R.   I.,   I.    15. 

G5  The  reason  for  this  becomes  apparent  on  the  examination  of  any  chart 
showing  the  direction  of  the  prevailing  winds.  Particularly  good  instances  of 
such  voyages  are  found  in  the  Clifford  Papers,  IV.  96,   114. 

ee  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  35,  41,  82,  133,  134,  167,  192,  216,  255,  263,  et  al. 

6"  Clifford  Papers,  V.  175,  178;  Coates  Papers,  David  Togo  to  John  Reynell, 
Antigua,  May  31,  1756.  This  was  the  rate  in  1770.  It  appears  to  have  been  15 
per  cent,  some  j'ears  earlier. 

68  This  was  the  method  followed  in  what  probably  constituted  a  great  major- 
ity of  cases. 

69  Pemberton  Papers,  XXIV.  21;  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  255.  In  some  cases  at 
least  the  captain  in  making  such  sales  was  paid  at  about  the  usual  commission 
rate.     Ibid.,  p,  61. 

"0  This  method  was  probably  adopted  only  in  rare  cases  after  the  middle  of 
the   century   and   then   with   little   success.     Clifford   Papers,  IV.    144,    145. 

'1  The  North  Americans  constantly  accused  them  of  being  generally  negli- 
gent, reckless  in  contracting  debts  and  slow  in  offering  payment.     Sometimes  we 


JVesl  India7i  Trade  before  the  Revolution  284 

the  characters  of  the  persons  engaged,  the  keenest  bargaining  was 
required  in  every  deal.  Thanks  to  the  snialhiess  of  the  islands  and 
their  extreme  dependence  on  oiitside  supplies,  any  kind  of  American 
produce  was  apt  to  command  very  different  prices  in  any  two  of 
them  at  the  same  time.  For  the  same  reasons  prices  fell  and  rose 
sharply  with  the  arrival  of  fresh  consignments  or  the  non-appear- 
ance" of  those  expected/-  Again,  the  price  agreed  upon  in  any  par- 
ticular bargain  was  arrived  at  with  reference  to  the  method  of  pay- 
ment. On  account  of  the  scarcity  of  currency,'^  the  difficulty  in  the 
collection  of  debts,"*  and  the  superior  opportunities  for  purchase  of 
West  Indian  produce  oft'ered  by  the  foreign  islands,'^  cash  and  bills 
of  exchange^"^  were  in  great  demand.  Hence  North  American  goods 
were  disposed  of  at  a  much  lower  rate  where  money  was  oft'ered 
than  where  credit  had  to  be  given"  or  local  produce  accepted  in  ex- 
find  charges  of  deliberate  dishonesty.  Pemberton  Papers,  XXIV.  21,  44;  XXVI. 
147;  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  174,  175,  269,  297,  373-  A  young  merchant  of  Philadelphia, 
Ezekiel  Edwards,  thus  describes  them :  "  A  person  cannot  be  too  cautious  how 
he  connects  himself  with  a  Barbados  merchant,  for  many  of  them  keep  no  books 
and  if  they  can  procure  money  enough  to  furnish  their  tables  every  day  with 
barbacue,  fish  and  sangree  Uic^  they  are  entirely  regardless  how  their  accounts 
run  on  .  .  .  and  most  of  them  will  bear  running  for  years  together  without  any 
marks  of  shame  and  perhaps  promise  ten  times  a  day,  if  you  can  meet  them  so 
often,  that  they  will  pay  in  an  hour."     Pemberton  Papers,  XXIV.  44. 

-2£.  g.,  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  211. 

73  The  British  West  Indies  had  no  currency  of  their  own  and  received  very 
little  from  the  mother-country.  They  were  forced  to  depend  mainly  upon  the 
small  amounts  obtained  through  commerce  with  the  foreign  islands,  and  much  of 
this  foreign  currency  was  drained  off  by  the  North  American  trade.  Constant 
but  ineft'ectual  appeals  were  made  to  the  home  government.  See,  e.  g.,  the 
address  of  the  assembly  of  Jamaica,  December  18,  1778,  C.  O.  137:  73.  and  An 
Inquiry  concerning  the  Trade  Commerce  and  Policy  of  the  Island  of  Jamaica 
(St.  lago,  1757).  For  denominations  and  values  of  the  Spanish  coins  in  use, 
see  Clifford  Papers,  IV.  119;  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  467. 

■4  See  note  71. 

75  Sugar  and  indigo  as  well  as  molasses  and  taffia  could  be  obtained  at  a 
considerably  lower  rate.  This  was  especially  true  of  the  French  islands.  Thus 
we  find  that  one  American  captain  was  ordered  to  sell  for  cash  at  St.  Eustatius 
the  British  West  India  produce  received  in  exchange  for  his  lumber  and  pro- 
visions, and  to  use  the  cash  so  obtained  in  the  purchase  of  molasses,  sugar,  and 
indigo  at  Hispaniola.  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  61.  Sometimes  remittance  was  made  by 
West  India  merchants  in  the  form  of  produce  shipped  on  order  of  the  latter  from 
a  foreign  island.     Pemberton  Papers,  XX.   128. 

70  Bills  of  exchange,  which  were  usually  drawn  on  British  merchants,  were 
as  acceptable  as  cash  but  could  seldom  be  obtained  except  for  cash.  Com.  of 
R.  I.,  I.  262;  Coates  Papers,  David  Togo  to  John  Reynell,  Antigua,  July  5.  '756. 
Numerous  examples  in  the  Coates  Papers  show  that  exchange  on  London  was 
usually  at  55  per  cent,  to  67I/S  per  cent.  This  rate  is  in  part  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  the  pound  sterling  was  worth  28  shillings  in  Jamaica  currency. 

77  Clifford   Papers,   V.    175. 


2  85  Herbert  C.  Bell 

change.^^  In  the  last-mentioned  case,  i.  e.,  where  barter  took  place,""^ 
the  matter  was  still  further  complicated  by  the  fact  that  the  prices 
of  the  articles  received  in  payment  were  scarcely  less  variable  than 
those  of  the  commodities  offered  for  sale.®°  In  any  case  the  captain 
was  confronted  with  innumerable  difficulties  and  delays.  Weeks 
or  even  months  probably  elapsed  before  the  whole  of  the  cargo  was 
sold  and  terms  of  payment  arranged.®^  In  the  meantime  something 
had  probably  been  accomplished  in  the  matter  of  securing  the  home 
freight. 

In  preparing  for  the  return  trip  the  captain  probably  received 
the  assistance  of  local  agents.^-  Of  assistance  he  could  make  good 
use,  for  now  he  met  the  difficulties  of  lading  which  he  experienced 
on  the  continent  combined  with  the  difficulties  of  bargaining  which 
he  had. just  encountered  in  the  islands.  Some  parcels  of  goods  came 
as  remittance  to  his  owner  on  earlier  debts,^^  some  as  payment  for 
produce  just  sold,^*  some  for  sale  by  his  owner  on  commission,®^ 
and  others  still  (probably  in  answer  to  advertisement)  as  casual 
freights.®^  Finally,  purchases  were  to  be  made  with  cash  which  he 
now  had  in  hand.  Such  purchases  probably  necessitated  visits  to 
foreign  islands,®^  but,  no  matter  where  the  bargaining  was  done,  in- 

78  Report  of  the  Committee   of  Trade,   B.  T.   5  :    i,  p.   215;   Com.  of  R.  I.,  I. 
34,  224;   Clifford  Papers,  IV.  33;  V.   175. 
"3  Com.  of  R.  L,  I.  178,  224,  320. 

80  Sugar  varied  in  value  according  to  its  fineness  of  grain  and  its  color, 
rum  according  to  its  strength  or  "  proof  ".  A  common  test  was  that  rum  should 
"  sink  oil  ".  Variations  are  to  be  found  even  in  the  case  of  molasses.  Moreover 
special  prices  were  commanded  by  the  rum  and  sugar  of  certain  islands,  e.  g., 
Jamaica  rum  and  St.  Kitts  sugar.  The  price  of  course  also  varied  according  to 
demand  and  supply.  Thus  American  captains  feared  to  push  their  purchases 
lest  by  so  doing  they  might  advance  the  prices.  In  general  prices  were  low  in 
the  spring  when  the  new  produce  came  in  and  high  in  the  autumn.  Thus  rum 
sold  from  January  to  July  at  23  pence  to  33  pence  per  gallon,  and  from  August 
to  December  at  23  pence  to  48  pence.  Clifford  Papers,  IV.  114,  145,  230,  233; 
Coates  Papers;  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  45,  51,  81,  84,  168,  179,  198,  225,  229,  296,  312, 
325,  371.  373;  Hist.  Soc.  of  Pa.,  Wharton  Papers,  Journal  of  Charles  Wharton, 
pp.  490,  495. 

81  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  36,  360,  366. 

82  E.  g.,  ibid.,  pp.  196,  225,  244. 

83  Pemberton  Papers,  XX.  128;  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  6. 

84  Thus  a  commission  agent  sometimes  tindertook  to  remit  by  return  voyage 
West  Indian  goods  in  part  payment  for  the  North  American  produce  sent  down. 
Pemberton  Papers,  XX.   128. 

85  The  commission  rate  in  Philadelphia  was  10  per  cent.  Clifford  Papers, 
V.  178. 

86  Pemberton  Papers,  XIX.  29;  XXIV.  21.  Some  of  these  casual  freights 
were  also  for  sale  on  commission. 

87  Of  these  the  French  portion  of  Santo  Domingo  was  the  favorite.  Here 
was    produced    more    than    one-half   of    all    the    molasses    and   tafifia    made    in    the 

AM.  HIST.   REV.,  VOL.   XXII.  — 19. 


PVes^  Indian  Trade  before  the  RrvpLuliofi     '    •'  :'}i6  :".  •  •  ;*•, 

numerable  variations  of  price,  arising  again  from  conditions  of  supply 
and  demand,  from  differences  in  the  qualities  and  values  of  the 
goods,  and  from  methods  of  payment  had  to  be  taken  into  account. 
Since  the  first  installments  of  the  crops  were  often  sold  in  advance**® 
he  had  perhaps  to  consider  himself  fortunate  that  purchases  could 
be  made  at  all.  And  even  when  all  negotiations  were  completed, 
serious  difficulties  were  encountered  in  the  actual  assembling  of  the 
goods.  The  produce  of  the  sugar  plantations  came  gradually  to 
market  from  February  to  June,^^**  while  bad  weather  sometimes  pre- 
vented for  weeks  the  operation  of  the  primitive  horse-driven  mills 
in  which  the  cane  was  ground.""  So  dilatory  were  the  planters  in 
carrying  their  produce  to  the  shipping  ports  that  purchasers  had 
often  to  sail  around  the  islands  and  invade  the  plantations  in  order 
to  secure  their  goods. ^^  Thus  the  captain  had  again  to  encounter 
endless  delays  before  he  could  announce  to  an  impatient  owner  that 
the  ship  was  ready  to  clear  for  home.°- 

Viewed  thus  in  detail,  the  trade  seems  almost  a  trivial  thing.  In 
reality  it  constituted  a  vital  part  of  the  greatest  commercial  system 

French  islands.  Before  1767  trade  with  the  British  North  Americans  was  carried 
on  mainly  through  the  port  of  Monte  Christi,  a  Spanish  boundary  port  notorious 
as  existing  almost  solely  for  this  purpose.  During  the  Seven  Years'  War  "  flags 
of  truce "  were  employed  and  at  its  close  the  removal  of  Acadians  to  Santo 
Domingo  was  used  to  screen  much  of  this  commerce.  In  1767  the  French  govern- 
ment in  order  to  secure  to  itself  the  regulation  and  profits  of  this  trade  opened 
St.  Nicholas  Mole  to  foreign  vessels  of  100  tons  or  more  and  allowed  the  impor- 
tation there  of  wood,  tar,  live  stock,  and  hides.  The  restriction  as  to  tonnage 
was  seemingly  not  enforced  and  the  importation  of  fish  was  permitted  shortly 
afterwards.  According  to  an  official  report  465,000  gallons  of  molasses  were 
sold  at  St.  Nicholas  for  23  sous  (currency)  per  gal.  from  July  to  September,  1774. 
Archives  du  Ministere  des  Colonies,  .St.  Domingue,  first  ser.,  nos.  128,  129,  130, 
135;  second  sen,  no.  24;  C.  O.  137:  59;  C.  O.  5:  38;  Gazette  de  France  for 
1767,  p.  611. 

8s  Com.  of  R.  I..  I.  231,  243. 

so  B.  T.  5  :  I,  p.  19;  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  20,  225,  265,  433.  The  harvest  on  the 
north  side  of  Jamaica  began  in  March,  on  the  south  side  in  February.  In  some 
parts  of  the  island  sugar  was  made  throughout  most  of  the  year. 

90  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  36,  432. 

91  Clifford  Papers,  IV.  157,  159;  Com.  of  R.  I.,  I.  192,  196. 

92 "  Vessels  from  North  America  think  nothing  of  lying  four,  five  or  six 
months".  Clifford  Papers,  IV.  159,  Harper  to  Clifford,  Grenada,  March  10,  1765. 
Perhaps  American  captains  and  merchants  did  not  always  find  these  delays  espe- 
cially onerous.  We  learn  that  Captain  Zacha.  Hutchins  of  Philadelphia  gambled 
away  "  several  hundred  pounds  in  specie — also  his  brig  valued  at  £750  "  at  Bar- 
bados in  1770.  Pemberton  Papers,  XXI.  79.  On  the  other  hand,  Benjamin 
Birkett  is  able  to  announce  that  his  friend  and  travelling  companion  Ezekiel 
Edwards  is  "  the  same  in  every  instance  as  when  he  left  Philadelphia,  not  cor- 
rupted by  the  vices  of  the  island  ".  Coates  Papers,  Benjamin  Birkett  to  Samuel 
Coates,  Barbados,  October  10,  1772. 


Vv  :;.•"!  P'^J.'-'  ''.  : .  }Vsst .Indian  Trade  before  the  Revolutioji 

of  the  century. ^^  To  the  West  Indian  its  continuance  was  an  essen- 
tial condition  of  his  prosperity,  almost  of  his  existence.  Lumber  and 
provisions  produced  in  the  islands  or  brought  from  Europe  were 
high  in  price  and  irregular  in  supply.  Reliance  upon  them  must 
have  made  serious  if  not  fatal  inroads  both  on  the  planter's  profits 
and  on  the  productive  power  of  the  islands.  Nor  would  the  loss 
consequent  on  interruption  of  trade  with  North  America  have  ended 
there,  for  molasses  and  rum  could  not  even  in  greatly  reduced  quan- 
tities have  maintained  their  prices  if  offered  in  the  European  market 
alone.  As  for  the  continental  colonies,  trade  as  they  might  with 
the  foreign  islands,  the  severance  of  relations  with  the  British- 
owned  group  would  have  hindered  their  development  to  a 
marked  degree.  Farmers,  fishermen,  and  lumbermen,  from  the 
Kennebec  to  the  Savannah,  would  have  sought  in  vain  sufficient 
outlets  for  their  goods.  Merchants  of  New  England  and  the  middle 
colonies  would  have  been  hard  pressed  to  find  the  means  of  liqui- 
dating their  debts  for  British  goods  and  the  means  of  purchasing 
furs,  fish,  and  slaves.  By  inference  it  may  be  seen  how  vitally  im- 
portant was  the  success  of  this  intercolonial  commerce  for  the  in- 
terests of  the  mother-country  herself.  Since  the  economic  decline 
of  either  group  of  colonies  must  have  afifected  her  industry,  her 
commerce,  her  shipping,  and  her  revenues,  hers  was  a  double  in- 
terest in  the  trade.  It  is  not  fanciful  to  trace  connection  between  the 
sawmills  of  the  Kennebec  and  the  sugar  refineries  of  the  Thames 
Valley  or  to  state  that  the  amounts  of  hardware  and  textiles  which 
went  either  to  Philadelphia  or  to  Kingston  were  in  no  small  degree 
determined  by  the  quantities  of  flour  and  rum  which  passed  between 
those  two  ports.  Nor  was  it  only  love  of  liberty  which  in  1774 
united  Whigs  of  England,  of  America,  and  of  Jamaica^*  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  Intolerable  Acts.  Herbert  C.  Bell. 

f 3  I  have  discussed  the  importance  of  the  trade  from  the  West  Indian  and 
from  the  British  points  of  view  in  my  paper  on  "  British  Commercial  Policy  in 
the  West  Indies,  1783-1793  ",  published  in  the  English  Historical  Review  for  July, 
igi6.  Its  importance  from  the  American  point  of  view  is  so  well  known  that 
detailed  discussion  is  unnecessary. 

94  The  assembly  of  Jamaica.  December  23,  1774,  petitioned  the  king  in  behalf 
of  the  continental  colonies.  The  petition  after  expressing  alarm  at  "  the  approach- 
ing horrors  of  an  imnatural  contest  between  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies  in 
which  the  most  dreadful  calamities  to  this  island  and  the  inevitable  destruction 
of  the  small  sugar  colonies  are  involved  ",  boldly  asserts  the  principle  that  "  no 
one  part  of  Your  Majesty's  English  subjects  ever  can  or  ever  could  legislate  for 
another  part  ".  It  protests  against  "  a  plan  almost  carried  into  execution  for 
enslaving  the  colonies  founded  ...  on  a  claim  of  Parliament  to  bind  the  colo- 
nists in  all  cases  whatsoever  ",  against  the  illegal  grant  of  colonial  property  to 
the  crown,  and  against  the  encouragement  of  the  "  murder  "  of  colonists.  It 
implores  the  king  to  protect  the  colonists  by  mediating  between  them  and  his 
"European  subjects".     P.  R.   O.,  C.  O.    137:   69. 


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